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k UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Sanctification Practical: 



A BOOK FOR THE TIMES. 



By Rey, J:' Boynton, 



AN INTRODUCTION AND AN APPENDIX 



By Mrs. Palmer. 



NEW YOEK: 

Foster and Palmer, Jr., 

14 BIBLE HOUSE. 
1867. 






' 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 

FOSTER & PALMER, Jr., 

En the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New York. 




boston: cornhill press. 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY GEO. C. RAND & AVEBY. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface iii 

Introduction 3 

I. What is Sanctification, or Christian- 
Perfection ? 7 

IL How is the Blessing of Perfect Love 

TO BE OBTAINED ? 15 

III. What are the Evidences that we 

ARE SANCTIFIED ? 62 

IY. HOW IS THE BLESSING: OF SaNCTIFICA- 

TION TO BE RETAINED ? 77 

Y. Questions answered 84 

VI. Application 97 



APPENDIX. 

The Act of Faith by which the Bless- 
ing of Holiness is obtained and re- 
tained 115 

A Pioneer Faith : whose Faith fol- 
low 130 

Did Mr. Wesley profess the Blessing 
of Holiness ? 138 

1 



PREFACE. 



For ten years past, ministers and laymen 
have been importuning us to publish our 
plain, practical thoughts on sanctification. 
We have often promised to do so in some 
form. At first, we thought of publishing a 
discourse in pamphlet form ; but as we 
have given the subject more thought, and 
have become better acquainted with the 
wants of the Church, we have concluded 
to follow the advice of many, and publish 
our views in a more permanent form. 

We therefore submit this little volume to 
the Christian public in general, and to the 
Methodist public in particular, claiming for 
it no particular merit ; but, believing it to 



IV PREFACE. 

be evangelical in doctrine, we hope it may 

lead many into the rest of perfect love. 

Should it do this in a single instance, we 

shall be abundantly rewarded for all our 

labor. 

The Author. 

Pent Water, 1866. 



INTKODUCTION. 



In presenting this little volume to the 
favorable attentions of the religious public, 
we cannot well say too much in its praise. 
It is eminently practical, concise, simple, 
and cogent, and just such a book as is 
needed by the sincere inquirer after truth, 
whose single aim is to secure the pearl of 
full salvation irrespective of cost. And so 
great is the value of this precious pearl, 
that the hope of attaining it without a 
willingness to pay aJl for it, and an absorp- 
tion of desire and oneness of purpose in 
seeking it, is futile. Under such circum- 
stances, no metaphysical hair-splittings, or 
fine-spun theological theories, however 
beautiful to look upon, will satisfy. 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

If a traveller had lost his way amid the 
burning sands of Arabia, and had not for 
three long days tasted a morsel of food or 
water, how intensely would he hunger and 
thirst ! We may imagine him to be a man 
of more than ordinary mental ability, whose 
literary tastes are exquisitely balanced. 
Bring him a book containing the most 
elaborate and beautiful specimens of com- 
position ever produced in any age, and in 
exultant tones present it to him, giving 
it its due meed of praise : in what way 
would your gift be received? Would you 
expect the famishing man to be very ap- 
preciative in his remarks, or lavish in his 
thanks? Would it not rather seem as in 
mockery of his want, and suggest a cruel 
deficiency of forethought and seemliness 
in you ? 

Yet is not such the inappropriateness 
of some works that the urithoughtful and 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

uninitiated would place in the hands of 
those who hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness?* It is true that the majority of 
those who intensely hunger and thirst for 
heart-purity may be persons in the com- 
mon walks of life, and of ordinary capacity : 
such formed the masses that followed the 
incarnate King of Glory, and so gladly 
heard his teaching. To all such, this trea- 
tise will be a valuable acquisition. It will 
be food for the hungry multitude of believ- 
ers, and most emphatically, as its titlepage 
suggests, a " book for the times. " Yes : a 
book for the times, because the great heart 
of the people is now crying out for the 
simple, unsophisticated gospel of a full sal- 
vation, untrammelled by worldly sophisms. 
Never, we imagine, was there a greater 
call, and a more unsuppressed desire, for 
the simple and unadulterated teachings of 
the cross on the subject of entire sanctifi- 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

cation. The truly pious of all denomina- 
tions, and of all classes, both of the minis- 
try and laity, are seeking for *the truth. 
There is a literal uprising of the people. 
The number of those who do " hunger and 
thirst after righteousness " is rapidly in- 
creasing. An elaborate display of doctrines 
or defence of technicalities, however mas- 
terly in style, or beautiful in composition, 
on the subject, will not satisfy the demand ; 
but plain, earnestly practical, well-defined, 
and experimental teachings are just what 
is needed. 

Such we present in the valuable little 
volume we now have the privilege of intro- 
ducing to the devout attention of the Chris- 
tian public, with the prayer that the bless- 
ing of the Triune Deity may accompany 
every page. 

PHOEBE PALMER. 



SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 



WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION, OR CHRISTIAN PER- 
FECTION? 

This is a perplexing question to many, even in 
the Methodist Church ; but we apprehend that the 
difficulty arises from a want of understanding of the 
subject, rather than from any darkness or mysticism 
involved in the question itself. Sanctification, or 
perfection, is taught in the Bible as a Christian 
attainment. If so, what is it? We propose to 
state what we understand to be the biblical and 
Wesley an view of the subject. 

Sanctification, in its literal signification, means to 
set apart, or to dedicate to a given purpose. Sancti- 
fication, we understand to be a state of grace, which 
implies the ivhole heart and life devoted to God. 
It is not absolute perfection : no one but God can 
be perfect in this sense. It is not angelic perfec- 



8 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

tion ; that is, it is not the perfection which character- 
ises the angels around the throne of God. It is not 
Adarnic perfection ; that is, it is not that degree or 
state of perfection which our first parents possessed 
before the Fall. But it is Christian perfection; and 
by this we mean, " nothing more nor less than per- 
fection in love." This is as Mr. Wesley understood 
and taught it ; and this is as it is taught in the 
"Discipline" of the Methodist-Episcopal Church. 

Look at the questions propounded to every min- 
ister, before he is received into full connection in an 
Annual Conference. " Have you faith in Christ? " 
" Are you going on to perfection ? " What state 
of perfection is here meant? The next question 
will show : " Do you expect to be made perfect in 
love in this life ? " (See " Methodist Discipline," 
pp. 81, 83). Not, Do you expect to be made 
perfect in knowledge ? Not, Do you expect to be 
made perfect in wisdom ? Not, Do you expect to 
be made perfect in practice ? For we cannot ex- 
pect to be free from infirmities and errors in this 
life. The very best of men are liable to err in 
judgment ; and errors in judgment may lead to errors 
in practice. The question is, " Do you expect to be 
made perfect in love in this life ? " That is, do you 
expect to arrive at that state of perfection in this 



WHAT IS SANCTIFICATTON ? 9 

life, when " your love shall be perfected in Christ 
Jesus" when love shall possess and rule your 
heart, and when love shall be the ruling, govern- 
ing principle of your life and actions ? The candi- 
date answers, "I do." Thus we see every member 
of an Annual Conference has said that he " ex- 
pected to be made perfect in love in this life." Those 
that have attained to it are sanctified, holy men of 
God. God ! multiply the number. 

As we wish to be clearly understood, and to lead 
the reader, by God's help, to this high state of grace, 
let us illustrate. Now, dear reader, we will say 
you are converted ; you can point to the ' ' sacred 
hour, the hallowed spot, when first you felt your 
sins forgiven." Oh what a blessed change came 
over you ! your burden of guilt then rolled off; 
God's anger was turned away, and you enjoyed the 
comforting influences of the Holy Ghost : then you 
could sing, " with the spirit, and with the under- 
standing also," — 

" Oh how happy are they 

Who their Saviour obey, 
And have laid up their treasures above ! 

Tongue can never express 

The sweet comfort and peace 

Of a soul in its earliest love." 



10 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

How warm arid glowing was your love to God 
and man ! How strong was your hatred to sin ! 
How strong was your determination never to sin 
again ! How you imagined your troubles were at 
an end ! But, alas ! how sadly have you been 
disappointed ! It was not long after your conver- 
sion, ere you found some of the remains of car- 
nality in your heart. You had faith ; but, oh, how 
you were troubled with unbelief ! You had hu- 
mility ; but it was mixed with pride ! You had 
devotion to God ; but, alas ! how much selfishness ! 
You had love to God ; but it was mingled with an 
undue love of the world ! Your purpose was to 
be a Christian at all hazards ; but you found " a law 
in your members, warring against the law of your 
mind." When you would do good, how much of 
" evil was present with you " ! In short, deep as 
your sincerity was, pure as your purposes were, 
there were " seeds of sin," " roots of bitterness," 
still remaining in the heart : these were ever and 
anon springing up, marring your peace and enjoy- 
ment, hindering your progress and usefulness in the 
divine life ; and how often have you felt to cry, 
Who, who shall deliver me from these things ! 

Now, when you are sanctified, you will be " clean- 
sed from all unrighteousness." " Sanctification," 



WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION ? 11 

said the sainted Dempster, " implies the propen- 
sities to sin eradicated." Hence, when you are 
sanctified, all these "seeds of sin," these ""roots 
of bitterness," are removed : so that you have faith 
without unbelief ; humility without pride ; devotion 
to God, without any mixture of selfishness ; love to 
God, with no undue love of the world. All anger, 
malice, envy, in short every thing that is opposed to 
God and holiness, is eradicated from the heart, and 
the heart is filled with love to God and man. Then, 
and not till then, do you "love God with all the 
heart, might, mind, and strength, and your neighbor 
as yourself." 

When the heart is thus cleansed from sin, and 
filled with love, its fruit will appear. We shall 
then manifest our love to God by living daily, 
hourly, and momentarily in a manner accepted of 
God through Jesus Christ. We shall then exhibit 
our love to man by " doing unto others as we 
would have others do unto us." 

We may further illustrate this subject in this way. 
The Saviour said, " Blessed are the pure'm heart." 
David prayed, " Create in me a clean heart, 
God ! and renew a right spirit within me ! " When 
is the heart clean and pure ? When we have bro- 
ken off" from our outward sins merely ? Is it clean 



12 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

when there are any " roots of bitterness " remaining 
therein ? That lady goes into her garden, and finds 
that a noxious weed has sprung up, and has spread 
all over her flower-bed, upon which she has bestowed 
much labor, and the flower-roots are so choked, that 
they are dying : she goes to work and cuts off all 
the branches of this weed just below the surface, so 
that the bed looks perfectly clean. But is it clean ? 
Let us see. After the lapse of four weeks, the lady 
returns, and she is surprised to find the bed again 
covered with this same noxious weed. She says, 
1 ' How is this ? I cut all the branches of this weed 
off, and the bed seemed to be clean ; but here it is 
again, covering the whole bed, and choking my 
flowers. What shall I do to ged rid of this weed ? " 
Why, you would tell her to take all the roots, and 
every fibre of a root, out of the earth You would 
say, while any of these remain, they will be spring- 
ing up ; and the weed will appear on the surface, 
and the growth of the flowers will be hindered. So 
it is not enough that we are converted, that the pro- 
pensities to sin are restrained merely, as they are 
in regeneration; but they must be eradicated, as 
they are in sanctification, when, by the blood of 
Christ, we are " cleansed from all unrighteousness. " 
It is when we are " cleansed from all our jilthiness y 



WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION ? 13 

and from all our idols" that we are "clean;" 
it is when we are "cleansed from all filthiness of 
the flesh and spirit/' that we "perfect holiness in 
the fear of the Lord." This is Christian Per- 
fection ! This is Perfect Love ! 

Yet, as we have above remarked, this state of 
perfection does not imply freedom from error : the 
purposes, the aspirations, the desires, and the affec- 
tions of the heart, are all pure ; the will of the 
creature is lost and swallowed up in the will of the 
Creator ; but, as we are not perfect in knowledge 
and wisdom, we may err in judgment, and this may 
lead to errors in practice. But mark, if a sancti- 
fied Christian errs in practice, it will be owing to an 
error in his judgment, not to an error of the heart : 
nothing but love dwells in his heart. 

Neither does this perfection in love imply that 
there is to be no farther advance or growth. The 
sanctified Christian through life, and through all 
eternity, will be constantly advancing in the knowl- 
edge and the love of God. I know that some say 
they cannot understand how any thing can be per- 
fect, and still advance or grow in its perfection. 
Go into the forest, and behold that beautiful tree, 
whose roots shoot deep into the earth, and whose 
top is reared in heaven. That tree is perfect in all 



14 SANCTIFICATION FRACTICAL. 

its parts ; yet, as long as it lives, it will grow. It is a 
perfect tree to-day ; but, twelve months from now, its 
roots will shoot deeper, its branches will ascend 
higher, and its trunk will be larger than now. Thus 
it is all the time perfect, yet continually advancing 
in its perfections : so the sanctified Christian is per- 
fect in love ; he has arisen to the ' ' stature^ of a 
perfect man in Christ Jesus ; " still, as the tree is 
constantly growing, so he is continually " growing 
up into Christ the living head." 

Neither does this great blessing imply that its 
possessor no longer feels the need of the application 
of the merits of Christ's death, and of his constant 
intercession : the fact is, no other class of believers 
so deeply feel the need of these, as do those who 
have experienced and who enjoy the blessing of 
perfect love. You, my reader, who are regen- 
erated only, will bear witness, that it is when you 
live the nearest to God, when you enjoy the most 
religion, that you the more clearly see your own 
sinfulness, and your utter helplessness out of Christ ; 
and hence it is, when you are living the nearer to 
God, that you the more clearly see your constant 
dependence on Christ. Well, they that enjoy full 
redemption, or perfect love, more than all others 
feel to cry.— 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 15 

" Every moment, Lord, I need 
The merits of thy death." 

And they, tbank God, are enabled to say, — 

" Every moment, Lord, I have 
The merits of thy death." 

Ob, what a sinking out of self into God ! Ob, bow 
clear and bow sweet the witness enjoyed by the 
perfect believer that he is wholly the Lord's ! that 
" the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth him from all 
sin;" that "be dwelleth in God, and that God 
dwelleth in him." Dear reader, that you may soon 
lay hold of this blessing, and enjoy this witness, is 
the fervent prayer of the writer. 



II. 

HOW IS THE BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE TO 
BE ATTAINED? 

" Oh, yes ! " a thousand voices exclaim, " that is 
the question in which I am interested. I have 
always believed the doctrine, and I believe that per- 
fect love is attainable ; but how shall I attain it 
is the perplexing question with me." Well, dear 



16 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

reader, the object we have in writing is to answer 
this all-important question, that you may no longer 
be in doubt respecting it. You say you believe it 
is attainable. That is the first thing essential ; but, 
with this belief, there are three things more neces- 
sary, in order to one attaining to this fulness in 
Christ Jesus. They are Conviction, Perfect 
Consecration, and Faith. 

First, Conviction. — This is just as essential to 
sanctification as it is to justification. There is, 
however, some difference in conviction, as applied 
to an unpardoned sinner, and as it is applied to a 
justified believer who longs to be wholly swallowed 
up in Christ. The unpardoned sinner is chiefly 
weighed down under a sense of guilt. He, to be 
sure, realizes that he has a hardened heart of un- 
belief; but he sees his transgressions towering to the 
very heavens, as it were ; his load of guilt seems as 
mountains rolled upon him ; he feels himself sink- 
ing down to hell, and he cries, " God be merciful 
to me a sinner ! " " Jesus, thou Son of David, have 
mercy on me!" But he that sustains a justified re- 
lation to God knows that his sins are pardoned ; 
that his load of guilt is gone. He can realize what 
Charles Wesley meant when he penned these 
lines, — 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVB. 17 

" My God is reconciled ; 
His pardonicg voice I hear/' 

Still he has a clear view of the deep, settled de- 
pravity of his nature ; he realizes how much of sin 
yet remains in the heart ; he is compelled to contin- 
ually apply to himself this language, — 

" Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
Prone to leave the God I love." 

And, while he realizes that there are so many 
things in his heart which are opposed to God and 
holiness, he hears the commands, "Be ye holy, for 
I, the Lord your God, am holy." — " Follow peace 
with all men, and holiness, without which no man 
shall see the Lord : " he is convinced that holiness 
is necessary. Then, again, he turns the eye of the 
immortal mind within, and, aided by the Divine 
Spirit, he gazes at his *beart with closest scrutiny. 
He sees the remains of unbelief, pride, selfishness, 
love of the world, &c, and is led to cry out, 
" Oh wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver 
me from this body of death?" ' Now he is con- 
victed ; for the conviction essential to our attaining 
perfect love is something more than an assent of 
the mind to the truth relative to our own impurity, 
2 



18 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

and that God requires holiness : we must loathe our 
own sinfulness, and so keenly feel the need of pu- 
rity as tO " GROAN AFTER IT. ' ' 

This reminds us of what we once heard Bishop 
Waugh say to a class of young men, whom he was 
examining before an Annual Conference. He asked, 
" Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this 
life ? " Each one answered, " I do.' ? — " Are you 
groaning after it? " — "I am " was the prompt re- 
ply of each. The bishop paused, and gazed at 
them, as if to discern the very thoughts of their 
hearts ; and then, in a clear, full voice, and with 
deep emotion, said, " Brethren, do you realize what 
you last said, ' Groaning after it ! ' That expresses 
more than a conviction of its need. -°It implies that 
you so feel its need, that you are now, in an agony 
of soul, seeking it. This is conviction proper; and, 
if you have spoken what you feel at heart, you must 
soon attain it. The conviction essential to sancti- 
fication is that feeling which leads the soul to cry, — 

" Break off the yoke of inbred sin, 
And fully set my spirit free : 
I cannot rest till pure within. 
Till I am wholly lost in thee." 

"When properly convicted, we " hunger and thirst 
after righteousness ; " we feel that we cannot rest 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 19 

an hour, a moment, " till we are wholly lost in 
Christ." Kind reader, do you thus feel '.? 

Second — Perfect Consecration ! — This is the 
next thing essential to perfect love. "But I did 
consecrate all to God, when I first sought the Lord, 
in the forgiveness of sins; and what more can I 
do ? " we are asked. Here many stumble. 

A brother in the ministry once came to us at a 
camp-meeting, and said, " I hear you and others 
say, ' We must consecrate all to God, unreservedly 
and unconditionally, if we would obtain the blessing 
of perfect love : ' now I confess I do not understand 
this," said he. " What is there about it that you 
do not understand?" we asked. " I consecrated 
all to God when I first embraced religion ; and that 
is all lean do" — " Well, let us see whether you 
have done all you can. Have you any pride ? " 
He answered, "Yes." — "Has not that pride its 
object?" — "Certainly," he said, after a short 
pause. " Have you any selfishness ? " — " Yes." 
" Has not that selfishness its object ? " — " Well, 
yes, I suppose so," said he. "You know in what 
you desire to please self rather than God ? " After 
a few moments' hesitation, he answered, " I think I 
do." — " Have you any undue love of the world ? " 
we asked. "I have." — "Has it its object?" 



20 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

" You need say no more : I see the point clearly 
now. Thank you. Pray for me;" and, so saying, 
he left for his closet. 

This is the point, — the objects of our pride, self- 
ishness, undue love of the world, '&c, are all to be 
given up, and the will of the creature must be lost 
in the will of the Creator. What we mean by the 
perfect consecration essential to the attainment of a 
perfect love is just such a consecration and sacri- 
fice as will enable us to sink entirely into the will 
of God. 

Now, dear reader, what that will be in your case, 
I am unable to say; that is, I am unable to say 
what the little minutiae will be. It is easy to tell, 
in general terms, what all must do ; and that is, to 
give up all for Christ. Time, talents, strength, 
substance, soul, body, will, affections, influence, 
family, friends, &c, are all to be given to God, 
in an everlasting covenant never to be broken. To 
do this, we shall need to repent, and forsake all in- 
ward as well as all outward sin : the " right-eye " 
and the " right-hand " idols are to be torn from the 
heart. 

In seeking entire san education, as in seeking 
pardon, you will become willing to do this or that, 
to give up this or give up that ; but you will 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 21 

come to some one thing above every thing else, over 
which the soul will have the great struggle. What 
that will he you may have no idea now ; but God, 
who always furnishes the sacrifice, knows what is 
necessary to bring us into the sweet rest of perfect 
love ; and you will not seek long, my dear friend, 
before you will discover what it is. 

We know of no better way to illustrate this sub- 
ject than to give you the experience of those who 
have passed through the struggle, and have entered 
into this sweet, holy rest. 

A lady, relating her experience in our hearing, 
said, " I had long prayed, — 

' The dearest idol I have known, 
Whatever that idol be, 
Help me to tear it from thy throne, 
And worship only thee ; ' 

but I little knew what I was praying for, until God 
came, and took my child away ; and in a short time 
my husband sickened and died, and I was left alone 
in the world : then I was brought to see, that I had 
been loving the creatures more than the Creator. 
My supreme affections were placed upon my child 
and husband, rather than my Saviour. Oh, how my 
wicked heart rebelled ! Oh, how I murmured against 



22 SANCTIFICATI02J PRACTICAL. 

God ! How cruel I felt he was to take my loved 
ones from me ! Still I knew it was wrong to feel 
thus : and I struggled hard, and struggled long, to 
sink into the will of God, and feel that the death of 
these loved ones was all right. Often before their 
death, as I would be praying for a clean heart, the 
thought was suggested, ' You must be willing to give 

O OO ' - o o 

up your family ; ' but I tried to believe that that was 
the temptation of Satan in order to destroy my 
peace ; but, when they died, my eyes were opened : 
then I could see what the idols were. Oh, how I 
wept ! How I struggled, none can imagine but 
those who have had a similar experience : at length 
I was enabled to give up my loved ones, and say 
in reference to their death, ' Lord, thou doest all 
things well.' Then*my faith laid hold on Christ as 
my present, all-sufficient Saviour. Then, oh, what 
love, peace, and joy filled my soul ! " 

Now this woman had been converted, and was 
trying to serve God ; but she allowed her husband 
and child to come between her and the Saviour. The 
consecration on her part, i.e. the one thing above 
every thing else, was her husband and child : these 
loved ones must be given up, so that she could love 
God with all the heart. How sadly she erred in 
not giving them up before their death ! this would 
have saved her much mental suffering. 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 23 

Again : in the summer of 1863, just as we 
closed the burial-service at the grave of a young 
lady whom we saw converted the winter previous, 
a friend said to us, " Mrs. G. wished me to in- 
form you that Mrs. Smith's husband is dead." We 
understood from that, that we were desired to call 
on the family. We determined to do so at once, be- 
fore returning home. Arriving at the house, we 
found Mrs. Smith, and her daughter, and two neigh- 
boring women, all quietly seated as though nothing 
unusual had occurred. There was no consternation, 
or any excitement which usually exists in families 
when visited by such a stroke. All seemed as calm 
as a summer evening. After a few moments' con- 
versation, we said, " Sister Smith, we understand 
you have met with a great affliction." — " Yes : af- 
fliction it should be considered, I suppose. My 
husband is dead. But the struggle is all over." 
" How is that? " we asked. " You recollect," said 
she, "I presented myself, with many others, some 
months ago, as a seeker of the blessing of perfect 
love ? " — " Yes, we know you did." — " Well, you 
know I had a great struggle ? " — " Yes." — ' ' What 
the cause of the struggle was, I suppose you never 
knew ? " — ' ' We never did. ' ' — ' ' It was this : I had 
been praying a long time for the blessing. I thought 



24 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

I had given up all. I went to the Lord again, and 
asked bitn to sbow rne what, if any thing, was yet 
lacking on my part. My husband was away, clown 
the Mississippi, in the service of our country, and 
was sick. As I was struggling in prayer, the ques- 
tion was pressed home to me, ' Should your hus- 
band die in the South, and you see him no more on 
earth, could you willingly give him up, and say, The 
will of the Lord be done ? ' My heart arose in re- 
bellion at once : I felt to say no. That will be so 
cruel ! I said, Lord, I can suffer any thing else ; 
but give up my husband to die away off there, I 
cannot! Then I would try to make myself believe 
that it was nothing but the temptation of Satan • 
but, every time I asked for the blessing, that ques- 
tion was asked me : over this I struggled for weeks. 
At length I triumphed through grace, and felt to say, 
* Yes, Lord, take my husband, my daughter, my- 
self, my all, but give me peace and purity within.' 
Then I believed, and entered into rest. Ob, how 
sweet and abiding has been my peace ever since ! 
My husband is gone. I mourn his loss here ; but I 
feel that it is all right. The language of my heart 
is, ' The ivill of the Lord be done? Deeply af- 
flicted as I am, I was never so happy' in God be- 
fore in all my life." 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 25 

This lady was struggling for purity of heart : 
she imagined she had laid all on the altar. That 
•she might not be deceived, she went to God, and 
asked him to show her if any thing was lacking, so 
far as her consecration was concerned. The Lord 
knew just what sacrifice was needed : she was will- 
ing to submit to the will of God, save in the event 
of the death of her husband in the army. This 
was the thing, above every thing else, which consti- 
tuted her consecration and sacrifice • for with all 
her devotedness to God, with all her love to God, 
her will rose in opposition to the divine will in this 
thing. That will of hers must be subdued before 
she could feel that God was all in all to her, — that 
she loved God with all her heart. When she 
yielded at this point, and said, " Yes, Lord, take 
him ! " she believed and rested. Now she feels 
that, in health or sickness, in joy or sorrow, in life 
or in- death, all is well. 

Oh, what a happy world this would be, compara- 
tively speaking, if all could say, when afflictions 
come, " The struggle is all over " ! Kind reader, 
are you in this happy state of entire reconciliation 
to God's will? 

Again : I knew a woman some years ago, who 
set out to seek the blessing of holiness ; and, when 



26 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

she came to relate her experience, she said, that, 
after seeking for a considerable length of time, she 
felt that she was blessed as she never had been be- 
fore ; and for a short time she thought she had ob- 
tained "the great blessing;" but, desiring to be 
fully satisfied, she went again to the throne of 
heavenly grace. Earnestly did she plead for the 
witness that she was accepted and wholly sanctified. 
She had not plead long when Grod led her in a way 
she had not known : the question was presented 
as distinctly as if spoken by an audible voice, 
Should your child be taken away in death, could you 
say, Amen*! not my will but thine be done? 

Her affections clung to her first-born, a bright- 
eyed little boy. That boy was dearer to her than 
life : the thought of parting with him in death was 
heart-rending. She felt to say, "Take any thing 
else, Lord ; but give up my child, I cannot" Over 
this she struggled for three long weeks : every 
time she attempted to pray, she met this question. 
Her desires for holiness grew stronger and strong- 
er; but how to yield and give up her child, she 
knew not. Finally she felt that the victory she 
must have or die. She began to cry, " Lord, 
help, help ! Lord, or I die ! " Then she gained 
the victory over self, and could say, Lord, take my 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 27 

child, take my all, if it please thee, but give me 
full salvation. " Then," said she, "my load fell 
off; then I felt the blood of sprinkling applied, 
and that I was clean ; then I obtained that ' peace 
which is like a river ; ' and now I enjoy that 
' perfect love which casteth out all fear.' • 

Well, that child did not die : he is alive yet. 
The truth is this : the mother sought for full re- 
demption in the blood of the Lamb ; in order to 
obtain it, she must make a full consecration. When 
she was indulging the thought that all was on the 
altar, and that she was accepted, in answer to her 
prayer, God brought her to see that she was cling- 
ing to one idol yet : that idol was her child. If 
she had been asked, " Have you given up all ? " she 
would no doubt have said, "Yes;" but when 
asked, " Should God take your child away in death, 
could you say, Amen ? " she was brought to see that 
her consecration was not complete. She loved the 
child more than she loved God. Her will was op* 
posed to God's will in the event of the child's 
death. When she could willingly give her child to 
God, for time and for eternity, her consecration 
was complete : as soon as that consecration was 
made, she rejoiced in the witness that "the blood 
of Christ cieanseth from all sin." While her con- 



2.8 SANCTIITCATION PRACTICAL. 

secration is thus complete, she may enjoy this full 
salvation. Should the child die while she is thus 
fully given up to God, she will be able to say " The 
struggle is all over." 

Again : while the husband and brother of another 
lady were in the service of our country, she was 
brought so to feel the necessity of holiness of heart, 
that she began to " groan after it." She had not 
been long seeking, when she was met by this ques- 
tion : " Should your husband and brother die in the 
army, could you willingly give them up, and feel 
that it was all right, and feel perfectly resigned to 
he will of God ? " She said at once, " No : I can- 
not ! " For several months, she struggled over 
this, and I suppose was about as unhappy as any 
soul ever was. Every time she prayed, this ques- 
tion was pressed home to her. She was buffeted by 
Satan, and became at times, almost, if not, quite, 
beside herself. In some instances, she said to some 
of her friends, that she felt at times she would 
rather give up her seat in heaven than to have her 
husband die in the army. She would think of 
this, and she knew it was wrong to feel thus : then she 
would pray over it, and try to give up these friends. 
She had for many years stood as a firm pillar in 
the Church, a woman of much prayer and of strong 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 29 

faith. She was still determined to conquer or die. 
Well, she continued this struggle until the first 
sabbath in August, 1865, when she was enabled, 
by the help of divine grace, to say, " Yes, Lord, 
take theni, if it please tbee ; but give me that ' per- 
fect love which casteth out all fear.' " Then she 
sank away into perfect peace, and has ever since 
rejoiced in the possession of the clear witness, that 
the blood* of Jesus " cleanseth from all sin." 

In a few weeks, her friends returned from the 
army in good health. They now enjoy each other's 
society ; and, what is more, they enjoy this full sal- 
vation in Christ Jesus. 

In this case, the will of the creature was opposed 
to the will of the Creator in this one thing, — the 
death of her friends in the army. When she sur- 
rendered her will to God in this thing, her conse- 
cration was complete, and she rejoiced in perfect 
love. It was not necessary that those friends 
should die ; but it was necessary that she should 
become willing that they shoidd die : because, in 
order to attain perfect love, her will in all things 
must be lost in God's will. This was done when 
she could willingly give up her friends to die in the 
army. Then the dearest idols were taken away ; 
then she could love God with all her heart. 



30 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

Thus we see by these experiences, that it was the 
surrender of those objects of earth, to which the 
affections and the will clung, that constituted their 
consecration ; that is, the particular consecration 
essential to the attainment of perfect love. 

Equally in point is another class of experiences. 

A young man once came to our room at eleven 
o'clock at night, and requested an interview. It 
was readily granted. He then asked, " Vv r hat do 
you consider the evidences of a divine call to the 
ministry?" We answered the question as well as 
we could, and then, to satisfy him more fully, called 
his attention to the views of various authors which we 
had examined. He, of course, had many questions 
to ask, and many things to say; and we desired to 
satisfy him if possible. We continued our conver- 
sation until nearly four o'clock in the morning, 
when he left. The next night he came again, and 
introduced the same subject, appearing then to be 
in very deep concern of mind. We, however, had 
not conversed long, when he made a remark which 
led us to discover that this was something new in 
his experience ; that it was not with him as with 
most young men who are called to the office and 
work of the ministry ; he had not been 'troubled 
with such convictions of duty to preach the gospel, 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 31 

ever since the time of his conversion, as is generally 
the case. This being a new thing with him, we 
thought we could read his case exactly, and said to 
him, "We understand by your last remark, that 
you have not, until quite recently, been impressed 
that you must preach the gospel." — "Never till 
very recently," he answered. " Well, now," we 
remarked, "you received that impression under 
certain circumstances. Will you please state what 
those circumstances were ? " 

His answer was this : " Three weeks ago last 
Sabbath, I heard Rev. W. C. Comfort preach a 
soul-stirring sermon on the subject of sanctification. 
I concluded that the blessing was for me, and I 
would seek it with all my heart. I had not sought 
long, when, as I was earnestly praying for a clean 
heart, I was asked this question, ' Are you willing 
to devote all yaur time, talents, and energies to the 
work of the Christian ministry? ' I have decided 
upon another profession, and I feel I cannot 
preach." 

Our reply was this : "That is just what we expect- 
ed you would say. Now, it is useless for us to talk 
about the evidences of a call to the ministry. We 
do not say you will ever have to preach a sermon ; 
but we do say, that you will have to become willing 



32 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

to give up the legal profession, and be willing to 
enter the ministry, or you never can receive the 
blessing you seek." "We then exhorted him to seek 
on, and to make the sacrifice required. We en- 
deavored to show him how to lay hold of the 
blessing, and he left. We did not see him again 
until the next day about three o'clock, p.m. ; and 
a happier man we never saw: he had made the 
consecration, and was rejoicing in full salvation. 

Our view of this case is just this, — this young 
man had been a member of the church over five 
years ; he was a conscientious, devoted Christian ; 
he was determined to serve God, and get to heaven : 
but there was one thing in -which he desired to have his 
own way, — his heart was set on becoming a lawyer ; 
yet he confessed to us that he had always doubted 
whether it would be right : he thought, if he did 
enter the legal profession, he might possibly back- 
slide, and lose his soul ; yet he had concluded, I 
will live religion, and I ivzll be a lawyer. This 
controverted ground ought to be avoided. He de- 
termined to seek entire sanetification. In order to 
attain to this; every thing opposed to God and holi- 
ness must be given up. He must be willing to 
become any thing or nothing for Christ's sake : if 
he could not, God could see how his love for the 



BLESSING OF PEREECT LOVE. 33 

legal profession marred his peace, and hindered his 
usefulness and progress in the divine life. He 
must be weaned from this, before he can 

" Sink beneath the purple flood, 
And rise renewed in all the life of God." 

What would do this ? God knew, and hence 
the question met him, " Are you willing to 
devote all your time, talents, and energies to 
the work of the Christian ministry V " To say 
this, would be to give up the law, which he loved, 
and to enter the ministry, which he did not love. 
At first, he felt that he could not ; yet he could 
not get around it. He yielded, and was made 
clean through the. " blood of the Lamb." This 
was in March. He lived this great salvation before 
his associates, having the testimony all the time that 
he pleased God, until the August following ; when 
he died in great triumph, and passed away. 

Just before an evening-service on a camp-ground, 
in the summer of 1865, a brother came to us, and 
requested a conversation. We anticipated his case, 
because we had seen how he was aifected under a 
discourse which we had tried to preach in the after- 
noon, on the subject of sanciincation. - "How 
stands the case with you? " we inquired. " Well, 



34 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

I have overcome this and that; and here I am, and 
can get no farther." We asked, what of all things 
he most desired. "I want the blessing of perfect 
love," said he. ''According to thy faith, be it 
unto thee," was our answer. "Yes; but I have 
reached this (and he placed the index finger of 
his right hand upon the third finger of his left 
hand, alluding to an illustration we had given in 
the sermon), and I can proceed no farther." — 
' ' We do not care to know what that thing is ; but 
let us ask, Do you know what it is? " — " Yes ; 
and I must tell you before I can go an inch farther." 
— "Then free your mind," we said. "Your 
preaching this afternoon touched me in the very 
depths of my soul. Ever since my conversion, I have 
felt that I ought to publicly exhort or preach. I 
once lost my religious enjoyment because I would 
not do this. I came to this camp-meeting, deter- 
mined to seek and obtain the blessing of perfect 
love, or die in the effort. All I can see in the way 
is this unwillingness to do that duty. Now tell me 
what to do." — " ' What to do ' ? Do your duty. 
Just say to God, Here I am, Lord, in thy hands : 
do with me and mine as seemeih good in thy 
sight ; and oh ! for Jesus' sake, give me a clean 
heart.' And remember, the promise is, Believe, and 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 35 

thou shalt be saved. Now will you thus give your- 
self up? " — "I will, the Lord being my helper," 
was his reply. 

A few minutes afterward, we asked him to go 
into the altar, and take charge of the prayer-meeting 
before the evening sermon. " And, remember, you 
may as well surrender now as at any other time," 
were our last words, as he passed into the altar. 

After singing, he urged the brethren and sisters 
to the performance of their duty ; he told them how 
he had been trying to run away from duty all his life, 
and how he had been praying for sanctincation : he 
then exhorted the brethren to pray for him ; and all 
knelt. This brother commenced at once to pray 
for himself alone. Soon he began to confess to the 
Lord ; then came the consecration. He named spe- 
cifically all his earthly possessions, and asked the 
Lord to take them all. At last he came to himself. 
"Now, Lord, take me, all I am, all I can 
hope to be : use me anywhere, and in any way, 
thatseemeth best in thy sight." He told the Lord, 
he was willing to do his whole duty. * ' Lord, thou 
knowest larn" said he. Then he began again to 
wrestle for the blessing ; he agonized in prayer ; 
he pleaded the promises ; he finally cried at the top 
of his voice, — 



36 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

" Lord, I will not let thee go, 
Till the blessing thou bestow." 

I believe, I believe, I believe with all my heart ! 
Just now, Lord, now take me ! Now cleanse me ! 
Now fill me with thy love ! I have it ! I have it ! 
Full salvation ! Glory to God ! Glory to God ! " 
and fell helpless and motionless upon the ground. 
We are happy to say that he is now living in the 
discharge of his duty, and is a burning, shining 
light in the world. 

In this case, the will of the creature was opposed 
to the will of God, relative to one Christian duty. 
When he became willing to do this, he obtained the 
great blessing. 

We trust we are now understood. By the per- 
fect consecration, we mean the giving-up all to God, 
in reference to all things opposed to God, to which 
we are clmoing ■ in reference to all those crosses 
and losses from which we are shrinking. That 
which constitutes the special consecration frequently 
differs with different individuals. The principle is 
this : we are to be lost and swallowed up in God ; 
we are to come, saying, — 

" I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God, 
To wash me in thy cleansing blood, 
To dwell within thy wounds ; then pain 
Is sweet, and life or death is gain. 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. * 37 

Take my poor heart, and let it be 
Forever closed to all but thee; 
Seal thou my breast, and let me wear 
That pledge of love forever there." 

The consecrating all, so as to attain perfect love, 
is beautifully expressed by Charles Wesley thus, — 

" Let .him to whom we now belong 
His sovereign right assert; 
And take up every thankful song, 
And every loving heart. 

He justly claims us for his own, 
Who bought us with a price : 
The Christian lives to Christ alone ; 
To Christ alone he dies. 

Jesus, thine own at last receive ; 
Fulfil our hearts' desire ; 
And let us to thy glory live, 
And in thy cause expire. 

" Our souls and bodies we resign : 
With joy we render thee 
Our all, — no longer ours, but thine 
To all eternity." 

There are two or three things more relative to 
making this consecration, to which we wish to call 
special attention. 



38 ' SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

We have said, you will find some one thing, 
above every thing else, over which the soul will 
have the great struggle. Here you need to be 
guarded. Generally, when persons reach this point, 
there is a shrinking-back ; and they are very likely 
to cease praying : then the Enemy whispers in their 
ears. " This is not necessary ; you can succeed just 
as well without doing that." And perhaps the 
next thought suggested to the mind will be, that 
the impression that we are to forsake this, or do 
that, as the case may be, is the temptation of 
Satan, who desires to make us unhappy. 

Here j&ve are liable to err in two particulars ; one 
is by ceasing to pray, the other is by reasoning 
the case with the Tempter, who will always reason 
us into darkness and unhappiness. We have known 
many to stumble here for months ; and some, for 
years. We will give you the experience of one. 

We were once conversing with a lady, whom we 
knew to be a woman of rich experience, upon this 
very subject of temptation when seeking for holi- 
ness. In the course of the conversation, she asked 
if we thought it would be right for a Christian 
lady to marry an irreligious man. We replied, 
that, as a rule, we should say that it would not; 
yet circumstances might be such, that she might be 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 39 

justified in so doing. We told her, we thought 
so weighty a matter should be made a subject of • 
prayer ; and, if she married such a man, she should 
be sure that it would be pleasing to God. She 
remarked, that she did not know but some might 
do it ; but, if she should marry an ungodly man, she 
would lose her soul. She then gave her experi- 
ence, in substance as follows. Several years be- 
fore, her attention had been called to the subject of 
sanctiflcation. She resolved to seek it. She was 
engaged to an irreligious young man. She had not 
been Ions: seeking; for the blessing, when, as she 

DO o ' 

was earnestly praying, something seemed to say, " If 
you would be a sanctified Christian, you must give 
up that young man." Here she stumbled for two 
years and a half. Every time she prayed for the 
blessing, that thought was suggested : at this point, 
she would always stop praying, and commence rea- 
soning the case with Satau. She tried to make her- 
self believe that that was not necessary ; that it was 
the temptation of the Devil to destroy her peace. 

At length she went to a camp-meeting, feeling 
that she could not and would not leave until she 
received the blessing : she could reach this point, 
but could go no farther. Monday afternoon she 
went into her closet, and wrestled until nearly night, 



40 SANCTIJTCATION PRACTICAL. 

but found no relief. She returned to her tent. She 

sat down, and soliloquized thus : " I came to this 

meeting determined to obtain the blessing of Sancti- 
fy o 

fixation. I felt that I could not and- would not 
leave without it. It is now Monday evening, and 
we leave to-morrow morning ; and, my God ! 
must I go away as I came? I cannot." A prayer- 
meeting was in progress in a large tent on the 
opposite side of the ground. She determined to go 
there, hoping she might hear something that would 
afford her some relief : arriving in front of the tent, 
she heard a man instructing those who were seeking 
perfect love. She sajd to herself, "That is just 
what I wish to hear." Being unable to gain en- 
trance at the front door, she went around to the 
rear end of the tent, and there effected an entrance. 
As she listened to this man's remarks, she was 
brought to see that the impression that she must 
give up that young man was made by the Spirit of 
God rather than the temptation of Satan. She 
then said, " Lord, take him : if that is what is re- 
quired, I willingly give him up; I will never marry 
him while the world stands." Then she was will- 
ing to give up all for Jesus, and then she was 
enabled to lay hold of the blessing. 

This lady erred as most persons do, — 1st, In 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 41 

ceasing to pray just when she reached the very 
thing, which, more than any thing else, constituted 
the sacrifice she was to make. 2d, In attributing 
an impression which she repeatedly received when 
earnestly praying to the temptation of the Devil. 
3d, In not communicating her feelings and exer- 
cises to her pastor, or some other person of experi- 
ence ; so that she might have seen just where she 
had been in error. 

Kind reader, you may depend upon this as a 
safe rule, — whenever you are honestly and ear- 
nestly inquiring to know the will of God concerning 
you, and are pleading for his blessing, and you are 
impressed that you must forsake this, or do that, 
that impression is made by the Spirit of God ; and 
certainly, when you go repeatedly, and make the 
same request known to God, and the same impres- 
sion is made, there can be no reason for doubt. 

You are earnestly seeking for full redemption : 
that implies that you are asking God to show you 
what you must do, with an earnest desire and pur- 
pose to sink entirely into his will, in order that you 
may enjoy the fulness of the blessing of the gospel 
of Christ. Under these circumstances, you are im- 
pressed that you must forsake this idol, or take up 
that cross. You go in the same way again, and 



42 SANCTIFIGATION PRACTICAL. 

again, every time seeking to be wholly lost in God's 
will, wishing to receive the evidence that you are 
sanctified ; and every time the same impression is 
made : this you should regard- as conclusive evi- 
dence that the impression is from God. 

Your case is, then, similar to that of a young man 
to whom God is saying, " Go preach my gospel." 
He feels that he cannot do it. He says, fc ' It is the 
temptation of Satan." He tries to run away from 
it. When he is cold in religion, he has but little 
trouble about his duty to preach ; but when he en- 
joys the most religion, the nearer he lives to God, 
the more earnestly he seeks to know the will of 
God concerning him, the more deeply he is im- 
pressed that some day he must preach or be lost. 
Wherefore, then, should he doubt? 

The nearer you live to God, the more earnestly 
you seek to be wholly dead to the world and alive 
to God, the more deep are your impressions as to 
what is to be given up, and what duty is to be per- 
formed. Wherefore should you any longer doubt? 
It is the voice of God, kind reader ; and it must be 
obeyed if you would know that you dwell in God, 
and that he dwelieth in you. 

When you are brought to see what God requires 
of you, instead of ceasing to pray, pray on. You 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 43 

will meet many and powerful temptations at this 
stage of your experience ; but lay hold of the 
promises of God with an unyielding grasp. Never 
cease wrestling and struggling, until you get the 
victory. 

But should you at any time be in doubt, and un- 
able to decide by the rules above given as to what 
duty is, I beg of you not to remain in doubt, as 
so many others have done, for want of proper 
information. Go to your pastor, or some other 
Christian friend of experience, and let the feelings 
and exercises of your mind be known, and ask for 
information : this may save you many hours and 
weeks of darkness. 

Let me say, before I leave this subject of conse- 
cration, that when you commence to seek for holi- 
ness, by commencing to consecrate all to God ; 
when any thing is presented to your mind to be 
given up, or to be done, — let the resolution of the 
heart be, "victory or death;" and cease not to 
struggle a moment, until you can shout, " Victory, 
victory, through the blood of the Lamb! " 

Third, Faith. — This is the next thing essential 
to the attainment of the blessing of sanctification. 

As to this we can have no doubt ; for, " without 
faith, it is impossible to please God." Whatever 



44 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

else we profess or do, it is by simple, appropriating 
faith, that we are to lay hold of the blessing. 

Repentance, Consecration, and Prayer are 
prerequisites to faith ; but it is faith that unlocks 
heaven, and brings the blessing down; it is faith 
that appropriates the promises of God's word, and 
the merits of Christ's death, to our souls. " What 
things soever you desire, when ye pray, believe that 
ye receive them, and ye shall have them," said 
Jesus. 

"Yes; but I do not understand what faith is," 
says one. Do you ask, " What is faith? " The 
apostle Paul said, " Faith is the substance of things 
honed for, the evidence of things not seen." — 
"True," you say ; " but I do not understand it 
any better now than I did before. I cannot see . 
how it is that ' faith is the substance of things 
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' " We 
will try to illustrate. 

Suppose you are in a state of starvation ; you 
have no food ; you have nothing with which to ob- 
tain it. A man says to you, " Come, go with me 
to my house : you will find the table spread, an 
abundance of food upon it; and you shall be per- 
mitted to eat, without money, and without price." 

You then begin to reason with yourself thus : 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 45 

" Who is he ? What is he ? Is he a man of 
truth? Is he able, is he willing, to do as he 
promises to do ? If I go, shall I find the food, and 
be permitted to eat, as he says? " You decide that 
you can place confidence in the man's words; you 
believe that he is both able and willing to do as he 
has promised : hence you have not a doubt or fear, 
but that, if you comply with the conditions, you 
shall obtain the food. This unshaken faith in the 
promises given becomes to you the " evidence of 
things not seen." You desire food, and, by virtue 
of your faith in the promise, you expect food ; and 
hence, as hope is made up of desire and expectation, 
you now hope to obtain food. Now you comply 
with the condition. You go with the man; and, as 
you go, you just as much expect to find and eat 
the food, as you. expect to reach the house. Arriv- 
ing, you find the table spread, the food upon it ; and 
you eat, without money and without price. Now 
your faith becomes the " substance of that which 
you hoped for." The application is an easy one. 

The promises are, "Ask, and ye shall receive; 
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be 
opened unto you." " WJten ye seek with all the 
heart, I wiii be found of thee." " Whoso com- 
eth unto me, I will in no wise cast out." 



46 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

" Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after 
righteousness; for they shall be filled." "If we" 
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to for- 
give us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un- 
righteousness." " What things soever ye desire, 
when ye pray, believe ye receive them, and ye shall 
have them." You look at these promises; you 
ask, " Can I believe them? " You know it is im- 
possible for God to lie, or his word to fail. You 
know God is able to do abundantly above that you 
are able to ask or think. You believe he is willing, 
and now your faith embraces the promises ; so that 
you believe without a doubt, that, if you should 
comply with the conditions, you would receive the 
promised blessings. This faith is ' ' the evidence of 
things not seen." You now hope to receive the prom- 
ised blessings. You seek, you knock, you ask, you 
believe ; and as you come seeking, asking, knock- 
ing, and believing, Christ accepts you ; and the bless- 
ing you desire flows into your soul : just as the Sa- 
viour said, " Believe ye receive them, and ye shall 
have them." Now your faith becomes "the sub- 
stance of that which is hoped for." The faith that 
saves is appropriating faith. It is something more 
than the assent of the mind to the truth of God's 
word. That would be intellectual faith merely. 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 47 

" It is with the heart man belie veth unto righteous- 
ness." Saving faith leads the soul to loose its hold 
of all other things, and lay hold upon Christ as its 
present, all-sufficient Saviour. When we exercise 
such faith, we not only believe, that, if we comply 
with the conditions we shall be blessed, but we 
comply, believing, as we do, that God does accept, 
that he does now bless us. 

Do you still ask, " What is faith ? " Yonder is 
your dwelling wrapped in flames. In an upper win- 
dow is your lifctle Willie, crying for help. You run up 
under the window, and cry out, " Willie, my brave 
little fellow, jump clown : I will catch you • you 
shall not be harmed. " — " That is my papa," says 
Willie: he loves his boy; he will save me; " and 
so saying, without a doubt or fear, he throws him- 
self from the burning building, and falls into the 
arms of his father. That is faith. 

Said the father, " Jump, and I will catch you : you 
shall not be harmed." Willie believed without a 
doubt, that, if he jumped, his father would save 
him. Here his faith became the "evidence of 
things not seen." He jumped, and was saved : 
his faith became the ' ■ substance of that which he 
hoped for." 

Again : you are cast upon a lone rock, away out 



48 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

among the foaming billows of the mighty deep. 
With toil and great exertion, a man reaches you with 
a small boat : he says, "Get in here, and I will 
take you to the shore." You ask, "Is the boat a 
safe one ? Can you manage it in so great a sea? " 
— " Certainly." — "Is there no danger ? " — 
" None." You have such confidence in the boat, 
and the skill of the boatman, that, without a fear or 
doubt, you venture upon the foam-capped billows, 
and presently you are safe on land. Such is faith. 
You not only believed, that, if you went into the 
boat, you would be saved, but you ventured and 
was saved. 

So, in order to be saved from all sin, we must not 
only believe God's promises, but we must venture 
out upon these naked promises, and then we are 
saved. " According to your faith be it unto you," 
said Jesus. 

Many tell us that they have been long seeking 
the blessing ; but they cannot believe. They are, no 
doubt, honest when they say this ; yet we are free 
to say, that, in the great- majority of cases, there is 
no difficulty in believing. In at least nine cases 
out of ten, the difficulty is an unwillingness to 
submit in all things to God : here, kind reader, 
may be the difficulty in your case. There is a 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 49 

shrinking back, and you hesitate relative to making 
an unreserved consecration of all to Christ. This 
being true, whenever you are willing to give up all, 
and to do all that is required of you, it will then be 
a very easy thing to believe. 

Still there are exceptions. The great difficulty 
with others is to believe. This class of persons were 
always greatly troubled with unbelief: these per- 
sons often tell us " We cannot believe," and atk, 
" What are we to do ? " Our answer is, You must 
will to believe : it is sometimes necessary to bring 
the will to bear with all its power in order to be- 
lieve. We are commanded to believe. "Have 
faith in God" .is imperative. If, then, you are 
troubled with unbelief, will to believe, just as you 
will to repent or pray. While you plead with God 
for the blessing, you may find this course beneficial : 
bring the mind directly to the point, thus : I must, 
I can, I will, I do believe. 

During a sacramental service at an Indian camp- 
meeting, in the summer of 1864, we discovered a 
white woman who was deeply affected ; and we were 
impressed that it was our duty to converse with her 
upon the subject of religion. Accordingly, as soon 
as the service closed, we inquired the cause of her 
weeping. We found she was a believer, deeply 
4 



50 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

convinced of the necessity of holiness of heart, and 
earnestly inquiring the way to find it. We had 
three or four conversations with her during the day, 
in which conversations we tried to show her how to 
lay hold of the blessing. Just before the evening 
service, we succeeded in getting a pledge from her 
that she would then and there give up all to God. 
At the close of the sermon there was a rush of 
Indians to the altar : some backsliders returned, 
and some who had never been converted sought par- 
don. Soon after the prayer-meeting commenced, 
we passed out of the stand ; and, near the foot of the 
steps, we saw this lady, kneeling by a log, and ear- 
nestly praying for a clean heart. We spoke a few 
words of encouragement to her, and then passed 
into the altar. After an absence of thirty or forty 
minutes, we returned, and found her locked in the 
arms of her sister-in-law ; and, in a perfect agony of 
soul, she was pleading for the blessing. Kneeling 
at her side, we commenced questioning her, in order 
to ascertain the real state of the case. We soon 
saw that the difficulty was a want of faith. We 
quoted several of the promises, and then said to her, 
' ' Believe. " — " How can I, ' ' said she. We replied, 
" The promises cannot fail. You believe God would 
bless if you were to comply with the conditions, do 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 51 

you not? " — " Yes, certainly." — " You are sure 
your all is on the altar? " — " It is." — " Then 
bring your mind to this point r I must, I can, I 
will, I do believe." She answered, " I know I 
must believe, but how can I ? " — "Will to do it, 
just as you willed to come to this meeting," we re- 
plied. " I would if I could," said she. " Weil, 
now, just begin to say, I will believe, I will be- 
lieve." She soon commenced, "I will, I will, I 
will believe, I will believe. Lord, I will believe." 
[By this time she was speaking as loud as she 
could, and all eyes were turned upon her. Her 
voice faltered, she was silent for. a few moments, 
then she said, " Why, I do believe, I do, I do Lord, 
I do believe, I do believe with all my heart! 
Glory, Glory to Jesus ! I have it, I have it ! vic- 
tory ! victory ! through the blood of the Lamb ! " 
and she fell back upon the ground. After she arose, 
she said to the writer, Such unbounded and abiding 
peace, I never enjoyed before." The next morn- 
ing T asked, " How is it with thee now ? " " Oh ! 
said she, "I ara away out in mid-ocean. I am clear 
of the breakers. Such solid peace I never enjoyed 
before." — " Can you tell why ? " — "I never 
was so given up to God, and I never so believed 
before. Oh, how plain and simple it appears now ! 



52 SAN CTIFI CATION PRACTICAL. 

Believe, and it is clone. It is so strange I could 
not have believed long ago." 

We have been permitted to lead scores of per- 
sons into the rest of perfect love, in the same 
way as in the case above named. Kind reader, it 
is possible this may be the difficulty with you. All 
your idols may be given up ; you may be willing to 
do every thing, and to suffer as well as do the 
will of God : if so, all that is now needed is for 
you to believe. Then come right to the point at 
once, — I must, I can, I will, I do believe. When 
you can say from your heart, / do believe, the 
blessing is yours. 

There is another thought relative to the exercise 
of faith, to which we wish to call attention. It is 
often the case, that persons seek for a time, and are 
powerfully blessed ; but they are unwilling to believe 
they are sanctified. They enjoy a nearness to God, 
and a fulness of his love, which exceeds any thing 
they ever enjoyed before. If asked, " Do you love 
Gocl with all the heart? " the answer will be, " I don't 
know but I do." But the blessing did not come 
just as they expected it, hence their unwillingness 
to believe that the work is accomplished. We have 
known some to remain in this state of mind for 
years. The testimony of a living witness may be 
of benefit to the reader. 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 53 

A lady arose in a prayer-meeting, and told what 
sweet abiding peace she had enjoyed for a few weeks. 
She then said she had come to the conclusion, that a 
part of her experience might be beneficial to others, 
and, with their permission, she would relate it, 
which she did, in substance as follows : — 

For several years, she had believed in the doctrine 
of Christian perfection. Four years previous, she 
determined to seek the blessing. She sought for 
some time, and was powerfully blessed. But she 
had previously formed in her mind an idea of the 
manner in which the blessing must come : she was 
disappointed in some respects, and hence she could 
not believe the blessing she had 'received was that 
of sanctification ; yet she was at times exceedingly 
happy, and could not discover as she was withhold- 
ing any part of the sacrifice required of her. Some 
weeks before, when her pastor preached two sermons 
on the subject, she listened attentively to every 
word of it, and thought she understood every word. 
After returning from hearing the second sermon, 
she retired to her closet, and asked the Lord to direct 
her, and enable her to seek aright for the blessing. 
She recollected what was said about the consecra- 
tion. She asked the Lord to show her what was 
lacking in her consecration ; she could discover noth- 



54 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

ing lacking. The more she examined her heart, and 
the more she prayed over it, the -more clearly she 
saw that her will was lost in the will of God. Then 
she asked, "Lord, what can the hincierance be?" 
The answer was satisfactory, as if spoken by an 
audible voice : ' ' The work is wrought ; but you are 
unwilling to believe." She looked at all the circum- 
stances of the case ; she knew she had consecrated 
all, she knew the Lord had powerfully blessed her ; 
she asked herself why she should doubt. Calling 
to mind the instructions of her pastor, she then said, 
" Lord, help me to believe ; Lord, I will believe ; 
and, after repeating this a few times, she was enabled 
to say, " Lord, I do believe : " then all her dark- 
ness and doubts were gone, and she enjoyed a clear 
witness that ' ' the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all 
sin." Referring again to the solid peace she had en- 
joyed for some weeks, she said* "lean now see 
how I might have enjoyed this same peace for the 
last four years, if I had been willing to believe." 

There are, without doubt, thousands who have 
received the blessing ; but, like the lady whose ex- 
perience we have just related, they are unwilling to 
believe. And how strange it is, that when we have 
consecrated all, and have prayed, and God has 
blessed us as never before, and as we still pray, we 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 55 

see nothing more that we can do, but enjoy a near- 
ness to God which we never enjoyed before, that we 
should doubt! "If ye ask bread, will he give you 
a stone? " 

A lady with whom we had often conversed on 
the subject of holiness, and whom we had been try- 
ing to lead into the enjoyment of perfect love, came 
to us one morning, and asked where she could find 
these words : — 

" Venture on him, venture freely." 

We answered, " In the 6th verse of the 341st 
hymn of the Methodist Collection; " and, by the 
way, that is just the text for you. We entered 
into a plain conversation upon her exercises and 
experience. We tried to show, from facts which 
she admitted existed in reference to herself, that 
she had no doubt received the blessing. After 
quoting and commenting upon several promises, 
and discovering that she was in "Doubting Cas- 
tle, " that she was unwilling to trust God, and 
take the Saviour at his own word, we said, with con- 
siderable earnestness, " Why, what a cruel woman 
you are ! " — " Why, Brother B., how can you say 
so?" — ■ " You are cruel in the extreme," we re- 
plied. "Why am I?" she asked. "Let us 
show you just what you are doing," we answered. 



56 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

" We will suppose you wish to cross Grand Traverse 
Bay : it will require a sail of twelve miles. A portion 
of the way, the water is several hundred feet deep. 
You admit that there is more or less danger of being 
drowned ; still you go clown to the dock, and step 
on board of a boat, and venture out upon the deep. 
Such is your confidence in the sea- going qualities 
of the steamer, and the skill of her officers and 
crew, that you start off across the bay, without a 
fear as to your safety ; and yet you are unwilling.to 
trust God ! You doubt his great and precious 
promises ! While you comply with the conditions 
on your part, you are unwilling to believe that God 
fulfils on his part, notwithstanding he greatly 
blesses you ! The assurance is, "If we confess 
our sins, he i« faithful and just to forgive us our 
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ; 
and yet you will not believe it ! Unwilling to trust 
God! Think of it! How can you treat God 
thus ? Are you not cruel ? Oh ! I beg of you doubt 
no longer.' ' 

" Venture on him, venture freely/' 

By this time, she had become deeply affected, and 
was weeping. We again repeated several of the 
promises, and tried to show how they were to be 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 57 

embraced and pleaded. Presently she took her 
Bible, and left the room. After an absence of thirty 
or forty minutes, she returned ; but such a change 
had taken place in her appearance, she seemed like 
another person. When she left the room, she was 
the very picture of despair. When she returned, 
her countenance was lighted up with joy, and her 
face fairly shone with the glory of God. She went 
about her work for a few minutes ; and then, ap- 
proaching us, said, " I never will again ! No : I 
never will as long as I live!" — "Never will 
what?" we asked. " I never will doubt again." 
Long before, this lady might have rejoiced in the 
witness of entire sanctification. Her great error 
was this, — she would pray earnestly for the bless- 
ing, she was willing to do and suffer all the Lord 
required, she was powerfully blessed : but, instead 
of thanking God for the blessing bestowed, she 
would compare her experience with others ; and, as 
the Tempter suggested that she was not sanctified, 
she would say to herself, and sometimes to others, 
" I have not felt as such an one did, I have not 
been blessed as I expected to be ; and I think I am 
not sanctified." She would continue to reason 
with Satan until she reasoned herself into darkness ; 
at the same time she could discover no idol to which 



58 SANCTIFICATIOX PRACTICAL. 

she was clinging, no cross from which she was 
shrinking. Her all was, without doubt, upon the 
altar. What she needed was to venture out upon 
the naked promises of God. She should have taken 
God at his word. He had given her the blessing ; 
that is, God had done all that could be done on his 
part ; but she was unwilling to admit it. Until she 
had done that, it was impossible for her to be per- 
fectly happy. When she could say from her heart of 
hearts, I will believe, she was enabled to do it ; 
and now, as a matter of course, she can say, "Lord, 
I do believe! " Now she can thank God for the 
blessing ; now she has the witness ; and now she is 
willing to testify that "the blood of Jesus cleanseth 
from all sin." 

Kind reader, the experience last given may be 
of great importance to you. Have you sought, 
and has God greatly blessed you? If so, what 
did you ask for ? Do you say a clean heart? Then, 
if God has answered your prayer, he has given 
you what you asked for. And if your consecration 
is complete, and, as you prayed for a clean heart, 
God greatly blessed you, "wherefore should you 
doubt ?" 

" But the blessing did not come as I expected 
it," you say. True : God's blessings never do 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 59 

come to us just as we have imagined they would. 
This was so when you were converted. "I have 
not had such exercises as Brother M. or Sister B." 
That is true. The great facts in Christian experi- 
ence are the same in all ; but the small particulars, 
which help to make up an experience, are vastly 
different in all ; and it is reasonable that these 
things should be so. 

There are three great errors into which all are 
liable to fall. The first is to form an idea, and 
make up our minds just how a blessing is to be 
given : the second is to suppose our experience 
must correspond in all particulars with that of 
others : the third is to reason our case with the 
Devil. If we avoid these, we will save ourselves 
much trouble. 

We should resolve to be satisfied to receive the 
blessing just as God sees fit to give it to us. Nev- 
er expect the experience of another, but let your 
concern be to have a sound experience of your own. 
Should the Tempter say, you are not sanctified, in- 
stead of listening to his suggestion, and reasoning 
the case with him, just say to him, " If I am not 
sanctified, it is high time I was, and, by the grace 
of God, I will be." Then struggle, struggle on : 
lose sight of every thing else ; let this be your feel- 
ing:— 



60 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

" What is our callings glorious hope, 
But inward holiness ? 
For this to Jesus, I look up ; 
I calmly wait for this. 

I wait till he shall touch me clean ; 

Shall life and power impart ; 
Give me the Faith that casts out sin, 

And purifies the heart. 

This is the dear, redeeming grace, 

For every sinner free ; 
Surely it shall on me take place, 

The chief of sinners, — me. 

From all iniquity, from all, 

He shall my soul redeem : 
In Jesus I believe, and shall 

Believe myself to him. 

When Jesus makes my heart his home, 

My sin shall all depart; 
And, lo ! he saith, ' I quickly come 

To fill and rule thy heart/ " 

Believe it, oh ! believe it, so that you can further 
say,— 

" Be it according to thy word ; 
Redeem me from all sin ; 
My heart would now receive thee, Lord : 
Come in, my Lord, come in ! " 



BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 61 

By saying to the Tempter, " Get behind me, 
Satan/' and wrestling whir God in this way, you 
will receive to the joy of your heart. Let your 
motto be " victory or death" Embrace and plead 
the promises. Whatever your temptations and 
hinderances are, wrestle Jacob-like, saying in the 
fulness of the heart, — 

" Wrestling I will not let thee go 

Till I thy name, thy nature, know." 

And remember, that, with the Conviction and 
Consecration, you must have Faith. Faith like 
the Centurion, who said, " Speak Lord, and it 
shall be done: " then shall you, — 

" Plunge beneath the purple flood, 
And rise renewed in all the Life of God/' 

We trust we have said enough to show the read- 
er how the blessing of perfect love is to be obtained. 
Let us now pass to the consideration of another 
question, in which all believers are deeply inter- 
ested. 



III. 

WHAT AEE THE EVIDENCES THAT WE ARE 
SANCTIFIED? 

Lightly as many are disposed to treat the doc- 
trine of assurance, every unconverted person feels to 
say, " If I am ever converted, if I ever become 
a Christian, I wish to know it;" and all persons 
are happy and at peace, only as they feel an assur- 
ance that they are accepted of God. And every 
believer says, " If I am ever sanctified, I wish to 
know it." What are the evidences that we are 
sanctified is, therefore, a question of great mo- 
ment to all who believe in the attainability of this 
state of grace. We will endeavor to answer the 
question in such terms as shall be easily under- 
stood. 

In the beginning let us say, we will address our- 
selves to Methodists : they believe in the doctrines 
of both sanctification and assurance. Dr. Watson 
used to say, there are think so, hope so, and know 
so Christians ; and the Methodists belong to the 
latter class." That is so : they say with Paul, 
" For we know that if our earthly house of this 

62 



EVIDENCES THAT WE ARE SANCTIFIED. 63 

tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." Assurance is one of the distinctive 
doctrines of our beloved Methodism : hence we do 
not propose in these pages to defend this doctrine ; 
but, as in all parts of this work, we shall endeavor 
to be practical. 

The question now before us is not, Do the 
Scriptures teach the doctrine of assurance ; but it 
is this : What are the assurances or evidences that 
we are sanctified ? • 

The evidences to ourselves, that we are sancti- 
fied, are thus : — 

First. — Our own consciousness that our all 
is unreservedly and unconditionally consecrated to 
God. 

Some stumble here, and say, "I think I am 
wholly consecrated • uut can I know it ? " We an- 
swer, Yes : just as certainly as you can be conscious 
of any thing else. If we have passed through the 
struggle described in the previous chapter, and are 
still clinging to any idol, we certainly know it. 
On the other hand, if we have given these all up ; 
if the " dearest idols have been torn from the 
heart; " if the objects of our pride, undue love of 
the world, and selfishness, which were one after an- 



64 SAXCTIFI CATION PRACTICAL. 

other presented to the mind, while we were seeking 
to be wholly lost in God, as the things that must be 
given up, have been surrendered, we are conscious 
of the fact. That these were to be forsaken, we 
know. The severe struggle we passed through, as 
these idols, one by one, were torn from the heart, 
can never be forgotten. These are facts in our ex- 
perience, and hence things which we know. If 
none of these idols are in the heart now, we have 
a consciousness of that fact. That is good evi- 
dence, so fa? as it goes, that we are sanctified. 

Again : if we have passed through the great 
struggle, and are still shrinking from any cross, are 
still unwilling to discharge any duty, we know it. 
And, on the other hand, if we have taken up the 
cross; if we have become willing to discharge every 
duty ; if our will is lost in God's will in reference to 
these things, — that is a fact of which we are con- 
scious. As we were trying to consecrate all to God, 
He brought us to see that these duties must be 
done. That fact is like any other fact of our past 
experience : it is a fact which we know to be a fact 
of our experience. If, in reference to these, we 
have said, and still say, " Thy will, God, be 
done ! ' ' we are as conscious of that as we are of any 
thing else, connected with our experience, past or 



EVIDENCES THAT WE ARE SANCTIFIED. 65 

present : there can be no doubt in reference to these 
things. 

For instance, does not that young man know how 
he struggled over the question of duty to preach 
the gospel ? Does he not know how he tried to 
make himself believe that it was not required ? 
Does he not know, that, as he prayed from time to 
time for full salvation, the voice of God was all the 
time ringing in his ear, saying, " Go preach my. 
Gospel? " Does he not hiow what it cost him to 
become willing to preach ? Has he surrendered 
his will to God ? Is he now in the hands of God, 
willing to go any where, to do and to suffer any 
thing God shall require of him ? Is he so fully 
given up to God and his duty that he will allow 
nothing to swerve him from his purpose to preach 
Jesus and him crucified ? If so, is he not conscious 
of the fact. 

Here is a lady who tried to run around the cross, 
and refused to pray and speak in public. When 
she came to seek the blessing of holiness, this duty 
was the thing, above every other thing, over which 
she had the great struggle. Does she not know 
that fact ? Is she not conscious of the conflict it 
cost her to make up her mind to do that duty ? 
Has she submitted ? If so, she is conscious of it. 
5 



66 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

When we have made an unreserved and uncon- 
ditional consecration of all to God, we are able to 
look back to an experience that we will never for- 
get ; and our present state of mind is unlike any- 
thing we ever experienced before. If the consecra- 
tion is complete, our will is lost in the will of God; 
or, in other words, our will is to do and suffer the 
will of our Father. 

All things that even savor of selfishness are 
gone, and we feel it more than our meat and drink 
to do the will of our Saviour : these are things of 
which we are as conscious as we are of our existence. 

Second : Our own consciousness that we 
love God with all the heart is the next evi- 
dence to us that we are sanctified. 

The reader may be ready to ask, as we are often 
asked by many with whom we converse on this sub- 
ject, " How can I know I love God with all my 
heart ? " Let us ask, Have you a wife ? Is there 
any other woman living whom you love as you do 
her ? Do you not love her as you love life ? Are 
you not conscious of it ? You would readily answer 
these questions in the affirmative. But why ? 
Simply because they are things of which you are 



EVIDENCES THAT WE ARE SANCTIFIED. 67 

conscious : so, if we love God with all the heart, we 
are conscious of the fact. 

We once asked a woman, who had been for some 
time seeking, whether ahe had obtained the bless- 
ing. Her reply was, "I have received a great 
blessing ; but, whether I am sanctified or not, I am 
not able to say. How am I to know it? " We 
replied, " If you are sanctified, you will have a con- 
sciousness that you have consecrated all to God. 
Have you that consciousness ? " — ""Certainly," 
she said : " the struggle to give up all I shall never 
forget." — " You are sure you have given up all ? " 
"lam." We then said, "If you are sanctified, 
you have a consciousness that you love God with 
all your heart." — " How am I to know that I love 
God with all my heart ? " We replied, " You will, 
in the first place, have a consciousness of it, just the 
same as you have of any thing else. Ypu are con- 
scious of your existence ; you are conscious that you 
enjoy pleasure or suffer pain ; and, if you love an 
earthly friend, you are conscious of it. Let me, for 
illustration, ask, "Do you love your husband?" 
" I do." — "Do you love him any more than you 
do other men ? " — To be sure I do ! " — " How 
do you know that? " — " How do I know it? " 
said she : " why, I feel in my heart a love for him, 



68 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

that I do not for any one else : that is how I know 
it." — " Exactly," we replied-; " and in the same 
way you are to know you love God with all the 
heart. You are to feel in your heart a love to God, 
which surpasses your love for any and all other 
beings and things in the universe ; a love which 
will prompt you to do all, and to suffer all, for his 
sake ; a love which will make it a pleasure to live 
or to die for him." — "I have that love," said she. 
" Have you ? " — "I think so." — " Are you sure 
you love the Saviour more than you do your hus- 
band, your children, and all others in the world ? " 
" I believe I am ? " — " Then, have you not a 
consciousness that you love God with all your heart ? 
Are you not ready to live for him and to die for 
him ? Could you not give up your family, your 
life, your all, for him ? Are you not conscious that 
your heart is filled with love to God ? ' ' — ' ' Yes ! 
bless the Lord! I am conscious of all that," said 
she. " Well, that is good evidence so far as it goes : 
hold it fast." 

But, kind reader, important as this kind of evi- 
dence is, and firmly as it should be grasped, and 
held fast, do not rest satisfied with this alone. This 
consciousness that your all is upon the altar, and 
that you love God supremely, is essential and is 



EVIDENCES THAT WE ARE SANCTIFIED. 69 

very consoling; but, with this, we should have 
another evidence. That one is the most important 
of all. It is — 

Thirdly : The witness of God's Spirit with 
our spirits, that we are entirely sanctified. 

This consciousness that we love God with all the 
heart is the witness or testimony of oar own spirits 
that we are sanctified. This witness of our spirits 
must be confirmed by the witness of the Spirit of 
God. It is your privilege to enjoy this ; and, kind 
reader, let us exhort you not to rest a moment until 
you receive that witness. 

What is the witness of the Spirit ? Mr. Wesley 
says, " By the testimony of the Spirit, I mean an 
inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit 
of God immediately and directly witnesses to my 
spirit that I am a child of God ; that Jesus Christ 
hath loved me, and given himself for me ; that 
all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am recon- 
ciled to God. I do not mean hereby that the Spirit 
of God testifies this by any outward voice ; no, nor 
always by an inward voice, although he may do 
this sometimes. Neither do I suppose that he al- 
ways applies to the heart (although he often may) 



70 SANCTLFICATION PRACTICAL. 

one or more texts of Scripture ; but he so works 
upon the soul, by his immediate influence, and by 
a strong, although inexplicable operation, that the 
stormy wind and the troubled waves subside, and 
there is a sweet calm, the heart resting in Jesus, 
and the sinner being clearly satisfied that all his 
iniquities are forgiven and his sins covered." The 
same Spirit that testifies with our spirits that our sins 
are forgiven, also testifies with the spirit of the sanc- 
tified believer, that " the blood of Jesus cieanseth 
from all unrighteousness." 

We are aware that many are a little perplexed, 
and stagger at the doctrine of the witness of the 
Spirit, because it is so mysterious. Almost every 
thing in religion, whether natural or revealed, pos- 
sesses mysteries which are beyond our comprehension. 
Indeed, this is true of the most simple of all natural 
phenomena ; and yet we believe. Conversion is a 
great mystery ; sancthication is a mysterious work 
of grace ; and that there should be mysteries con- 
nected with the witness of the Spirit, we should re- 
gard as no marvel ; and we should not hesitate to 
believe the doctrine on that account. If we assume 
the position that we will believe nothing but what 
we can comprehend, then we will believe scarcely 
any thing. 



EVIDENCES THAT WE AKE SANCTIFIED. 71 

But we are aware that many are groping in 
darkness, and are perplexed on every hand, be- 
cause they have not a clear understanding of what 
we mean by the witness of the Spirit : they seem to 
imagine that it must be something like God speak- 
ing to us with an audible voice, or some miraculous 
manifestation of God. Mr. Wesley would teach 
us, that we should not expect to hear with an audi- 
ble voice, nor even expect him always to speak with 
an inner voice ; but that he "so works upon the 
soul by his immediate influence, and by a strong 
though inexplicable operation, that the stormy 
winds and troubled waves subside, and there is a 
sweet calm, the heart resting in Jesus, &c. 

The great trouble with many is, that they are 
looking for too much, for what they never can se- 
cure. Although the witness of the Spirit is " inex- 
plicable " in the manner in which it is imparted to 
the soul, yet we think we may comprehend or un- 
derstand the thing itself. We may know when the 
witness of the Spirit is imparted to us. 

For illustration : you, my hearer, have been seek- 
ing the blessing of perfect love ; you have been 
enabled to lay all on the altar, as you think ; and you 
enjoy a nearness to God, and a degree of love, 
which surpasses any thing you ever enjoyed before. 



72 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

You now ask, " Am I sanctified ? Am I cleansed 
from all sin ? Do I love God with all the heart? 
Am I filled with all the fulness of Christ ?" 
You examine your heart carefully, and are unable 
to see any idol you are unwilling to give up ; you 
are unable to discover any disposition to shun any 
cross or any suffering which God may require ; in 
short, you have a consciousness of the witness of 
your own spirit that the consecration is complete. 
You, also, upon a careful examination, find that your 
love to God is such that God is all in all to you. 
You have a consciousness, or the testimony of your 
own spirit, that you love God with all the heart : 
again and again, you make the examination ; and, 
the more you examine your heart, the better satis- 
fied you are that all things opposed to God are 
eradicated from the heart, and that your " love is 
perfected in Christ Jesus." But you feel that you 
do not wish to be deceived, and very wisely deter- 
mine to ask God to show you how the case stands. 
You go to God in prayer : the burden of your 
prayer now is, " Lord, give me the witness ! — the 
witness, Lord, that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from 
ail sin, — the witness that I am wholly lost in thee ! " 
As you thus pray, no idol is presented to the mind that 
is not given up ; no cross is suggested to the mind 



EVIDENCES THAT WE ARE SANCTIFIED. 73 

that you are unwilling to bear ; in short, you are 
unable to see that in any thing you are opposed to 
God. No object of affection or of selfishness 
stands between you and God. You continue to 
pray; and, the more you pray, the more love dwells 
in the heart. The more you pray for the witness, 
the clearer becomes your spiritual vision, the more 
solid and abiding is your peace. Every time you 
ask for the witness, instead of seeing any thing 
lacking in your consecration, the Lord powerfully 
blesses your soul, and the stronger becomes the 
heart-felt assurance that all is well with you, — that 
you are pleasing in the sight of God, and are ac- 
cepted through Christ Jesus. This is the witness 
of the Spirit. You have a desire and a determi- 
nation to be wholly the Lord's. You pray God to 
show you if there is any thing lacking in your 
consecration : nothing is suggested, but he fills you 
" unutterably full of glory and of God." Oh how 
sweet is the assurance within, that you please God ! 
Now you feel that you dwell in God, and that 
God dwelleth in you. That is the witness of the 
Spirit ; and what more can you ask ? When you ask 
God to show what, if any thing, is in the way; if 
any thing separates between you and God ; if, in any 
particular, you are not conformed to the will and im- 



74 3ANCTIFICATI0N PRACTICAL. 

age of God, and nothing of this kind is suggested 
to the mind, but a flood of light, life, and salva- 
tion, is poured into the soul, and with this comes 
an abiding conviction, or persuasion, that you 
please, and are accepted of God, — this is the wit- 
ness : hold on to it ! 

Having arrived at this point in your experience, 
you have your own consciousness that you are fully 
consecrated to God, and your own consciousness 
that you love God with all the heart ; and the testi- 
mony of the Spirit of God confirms the testimony 
of your own spirit, in that, when you ask God to 
show you how your case stands, instead of receiving 
a conviction that you are not what you should be, 
the love and power of God is poured into the soul, 
and the conviction is given you that you are all 
the Lord's : these are the evidences that you are 
sanctified. Dear reader, let me exhort you to wres- 
tle on night and day, without cessation, until you 
have the evidences. 

Just as clear as was the testimony of the Spirit, 
that Jesus hath power to forgive sins, and that our 
sins were forgiven, is the witness to us who are 
sanctified, that the " blood of Jesus Christ cleans- 
eth from all unrighteousness." 

It is perhaps due that we should here say, The 



EVIDENCES THAT WE ARE SANCTIFIED. 75 

reader may depend upon this as a safe rule : when- 
ever you go to Grod, and ask for the witness of the 
Spirit that any work of grace has been wrought in 
you, he will always give you one of two things. 
He will either show you something that is yet lack- 
ing on your part that the consecration is not com- 
plete ; or he will bless you abundantly, and give 
you the persuasion that all is well. Hence we need 
never be long in doubt as to how our case stands 
with the Almighty. We have only to go in a 
spirit of perfect consecration ; and, if we are wrong, 
we shall know it ; and if we are right, thank God, 
we shall know it. 

We have thus far been speaking of the evidences 
to ourselves that we are sanctified. We are aware 
that it is a, small thing to be judged of men : never- 
theless, it is a question of some importance. What 
are the evidences to our associates that we are 
sanctified? 

We answer: Jesus said, " By their fruits, ye 
shall know them" The life we live, our walk 
and conversation, our views, motives, employments, 
spirit, and temper, will be such as to convince those 
with whom we associate, that "the old man has 
been crucified, with all his deeds, and that the new 
man, Christ Jesus, has been raised up in us." It 



76 SANCTIFIOATION PRACTICAL. 

is highly important that we have evidences satis- 
factory to ourselves, and that we give evidences 
conclusive to those with whom we associate, that we 
are sanctified. The cause of holiness has suffered 
exceedingly, because some profess it ; but their 
walk and conversation are such as to cause others to 
doubt whether there is any such thing as sancti- 
ncation. If we are sanctified, our lives will be 
pure, our conversation will be God-like. Instead 
of livins; as we did before we attained this high 
state of grace, our lives will be so much more con- 
sistent and holy, as to lead others to see that a great 
change has been effected in us : this will be so, 
even if we were regarded as being quite consistent 
before professing perfect love. " Out of the abun- 
dance of the heart the mouth speaketb. 1 ' If noth- 
ing but love dwells in the heart, our conversation 
will be such as to show that fact. The heart is the 
fountain of our acts as well as our words. Is the 
fountain pure ? If so, then the stream will be 
pure ; instead of being conformed to the world, as 
is the case with many professing Christians, if we 
are sanctified, we shall be transformed in every par- 
ticular. As we said in a preceding chapter, 
' ' Sanctificatiou implies the whole heart and life 
devoted to God." If, then, we are sanctified, the 



BLESSING OF SANCTIFICATION RETAINED. 77 

fruit is seen in our holy lives and godly conversa- 
tion. The evidence to our associates is, that they 
see the lives we are living are " hid with Christ in 
God." While, then, we contend for satisfactory evi- 
dence to ourselves that we are sanctified, let us 
give conclusive evidence to our associates that we 
are so by "living godly in Christ Jesus/' at all 
times and in all places. 



IV. 



HOW IS THE BLESSING OF SANCTIPICATIOK 
TO BE RETAINED ? . 

This is a question of vital importance. Header, 
when you shall have attained the blessing of sanc- 
tiiication, you will have clone well : when you shall 
have lived it and enjoyed it for years, you will 
have done better. May the better part be yours ! 
With a desire to aid you in retaining this great bless- 
ing, we will attempt to answer this question. 

We know one way only in which to retain 
the blessing of holiness, and that is this, — just 
as you a tamed so are you to retain it. "As ye 
have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye 



< 3 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

in him," said Paul : so we say, As you attained the 
blessing of sanctification, so are you to hold it fast ; 
or, in other words, as ye received Christ in the 
sanctification of your heart, so walk ye in him." 

If our position, then, be correct, as we think it is, 
in order to ascertain how to retain the blessing, we 
must inquire how we received or obtained it. In 
making this inquiry, we learn that four things are 
essential to the attainment of perfect love or holi- 
ness : they are, — 

First, A belief that the blessing is attainable. 
If you would retain it, stand firm in this faith \ for, 
notwithstanding your rich experience, there is dan- 
ger of being led into unbelief. You will need to 
watch much, and always to be on your guard, lest 
the temptations of Satan, the scoffs of the world, 
or the opposing influence in the Church, .may shake 
your faith in the doctrine. We are sorry to say, 
there are some even in our church, who hold the 
doctrine in derision. These* and other influences 
may lead us to doubt the truth of the doctrine, that , 
it is the privilege of believers ' ' to he made perfect 
in love in this life." Such a doubt, indulged for a 
short time, will lead us into darkness. It is absolute- 
ly necessary, that we stand firm in the belief that holi- 
ness is attainable, in order to obtain and retain the 
great blessing. 



BLESSING OF SANCTIFICATION RETAINED. 79 

Second, Conviction. This we have already de- 
fined to imply not merely a persuasion that holiness 
is necessary ; but it is so to feel its necessity as to 
lead us to groan after it. So we are to feel in or- 
der to retain the blessing. He that is living in the 
enjoyment of the comforts of full redemption is con- 
stantly " hungering and thirsting after righteous- 
ness." This is necessary in order to be constantly 
filled. After attaining,' as well as before, we 
must so feel the necessity of purity and holiness, 
as to say, "I cannot rest till pure within," 
in order to retain the blessing. The fact is, the 
longer we enjoy holiness, and the nearer we are con- 
formed to the image of God, the more shall we long 
to be ' ' wholly lost in God. " So it was while we 
were seeking : the longer we sought, and the more 
earnest we were in our efforts, the more we felt that 
we must be sanctified, or die in the effort; so we are 
■ to feel continually if we would retain the blessing. 

Third, Perfect Consecration. We have already 
said enough to show what perfect consecration is, 
hence we will not detain the reader with any other 
illustration to show what it implies. If we enjoy 
sanctification, we are not only to look back to some 
time when the great work is wrought ; but we are 
momentarily saved from all sin, and filled with the 



80 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL 

fulness of Christ. "When sanctified, we enjoy a con- 
tinual cleansing. In order to attain the blessing, 
we had to make an unreserved and unconditional 
consecration of all we have and are to God ; so are 
we to retain the blessing. We are to possess at all 
times a spirit x)f perfect consecration. Reader, you 
will find it to be of very great importance, as often 
at least as morning, noon, and night, to enter your 
closet, and formally renew your covenant, and make 
a new consecration of your all to God. If you are 
faithful, you will be constantly growing in grace, 
and in the knowledge of the truth. You may be 
called to duties and sacrifices that you now know 
nothing of; and, in order to retain the blessing of 
holiness, you must be all the time perfectly given 
up to God. You must consider yourself, soul and 
body, time and talents, strength and substance, will, 
affections, influence, &c, the Lord's. You are to be 
constantly inquiring, " Lord, what wilt thou have 
me to do?" and, as his will is made known to 
you, be ever ready to do and suffer his will with 
delight. We are to be so perfectly consecrated, 
that we can receive even sufferings with rejoicing : 
" Rejoicing that we are counted worthy to be par- 
takers of Christ's sufferings ; that, when his glory 
shall be revealed, we may be glad also with exceed 



BLESSING OF SANCTIFICATION RETAINED. 81 

ing joy." The moment we become unwilling to do 
or to suffer the Lord's will, that moment we lose 
the witness of our acceptance, because we have 
then taken back the sacrifice we once made. There 
is no possibility of enjoying the favor of God when 
our will is in any way opposed to his will. Mo- 
mentary, perfect consecration is necessary in order 
to keep our will constantly in subjection to the 
divine will. 

Fourth, Faith. It was by faith we obtained the 
blessing of sanctification, and it is by faith that we 
are to retain it. It was when we grasped the prom- 
ises of God, and believed, as we prayed, that we 
received the things we desired, that our hearts were 
washed in the blood of Jesus, and we rejoiced in' 
the witness of sanctification. As we received, so are 
we to walk. As we momentarily feel that we must 
be holy in order to please God, as we are to live 
every moment in the spirit of perfect consecration ; 
so are we constantly to live and walk by faith, — 
that is to say, we are constantly to look to God for 
full salvation, and constantly to believe that we 
are fully saved through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

We are to learn to " walk by faith," in order to 
retain the blessing. But here we may be asked, 
" What does that mean? How are we to walk by 
6 



82 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

faith ? " We answer, " Our outward circumstances 
are sometimes such, that, if we attempt to walk by 
sight, we shall certainly fall. At times, all is dark 
and foreboding. How terribly we are assailed by 
Satan at times ! How terrible are our conflicts ! It 
is by faith alone we are enabled to stand in the 
hours of darkness and trial. Some days we do 
not see the natural sun from morning till night : 
thick clouds intervene between us and the sun. We 
are in comparative darkness. How thick the gloom 
which pervades the earth ! Now, if we should al- 
low ourselves to walk by sight merely, we should 
conclude that the sun had ceased to shine forever ; 
that we should never see it, and never rejoice in its 
light again. Is it so? Do we think the sun no 
longer shines, and that we never shall see it again, 
because we cannot now see it for the clouds*? No, 
verily. We know the sun shines just as brightly 
now as it ever did. The clouds shut it from our 
view for a short time ; but we believe, without a 
shadow of a doubt, that by and by the clouds will 
disperse, and then the sun will again shine upon us, 
and appear more lovely than ever. It is just so in 
religious experience. Sometimes clouds arise, and 
shut our Saviour from our view for a time. We are 
not able at all times to tell the reason why ; but, 



BLESSING OF SANCTIFICATION RETAINED. 83 

for a time, clouds and darkness are round about us. 
Those that walk by sight give up in despair ; and 
hence fhey are soon numbered with those who ran 
well for a season, and then turned back. But those 
who walk by faith, and not by sight, hold on to 
God with an unyielding grasp ; believing that God 
is still on the throne ; believing that he still owns 
and blesses them ; that, for the trial of their faith, 
they are for a short time in comparative darkness. 
They know by faith that the clouds will soon dis- 
perse, and that the Sun of Righteousness will again 
shine upon them. This is walking by faith. Al- 
though outward circumstances are forbidding, and 
we are in this comparative darkness for a time, our 
confidence in God is not in the least" shaken, but 
rather strengthened, by this trial. We feel that all 
is well. In light or darkness, in joy or sorrow, in 
prosperity or adversity, we believe now with all the 
heart, that God is ours, and we are his ; that be 
clean seth us now from all sin ; that we are made 
entirely whole. So we received the blessing ; so 
are we to retain it." 

If, then, kind reader, you would retain the bless- 
ing of perfect love, you must feel continually that 
it is both your duty and privilege to be sanctified. 
To enjoy at all times the cleansing efficacy of the 



84 SAXCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

Redeemer's blood, continually must you be conse- 
crating all to God, and looking to him for purity of 
heart ; and every moment must you believe you are 
accepted, and that the blood of Jesus cleanseth you 
from all unrighteousness. 

One more illustration, and we will leave this part 
of our subject. Some think this a very perplexing 
question, " How are we to live holy continually ? " 
To us it is clear as a sunbeam. John says, 
"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we 
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of 
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 
There is to be a constant walking in the light by 
faith, and then we experience a continual cleansing. 
It is not was cleansed, not shall be cleansed ; but 
" cleanseth us." 



V. 

QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 

In view of the many questions that are asked us 
nearly every day, we have, thought best to devote 
a short space to their consideration, hoping that, by 
so doing, we may be able to speak a word in season 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 85 

to some earnest inquirer who may not be able to 
obtain in any other way the desired information 
when it is most needed. 

Question. — "Is the blessing of sanctif cation 
for me ? " 

Answer. — Certainly. Why not ? Did not the 
Saviour die for you ? Did he not open a fountain 
for sin and for uncleanness, by the shedding of his 
blood ? . Is not that blood able to cleanse from all 
sin ? Did not the dying thief rejoice to see that 
fountain in his day? and there may not you, 
though vile as he, wash all your sins away ? If so, 
why ask, " Is it for me?" 

Question. — " Is it a gradual or an instanta- 
neous work? " 

Answer. — Mr. Wesley says it may be either ; 
and the testimony of those who haye experienced 
the blessing shows that he was correct. Some 
commence seeking ; and gradually they advance in 
the knowledge and love of God ; and eventually 
they attain to perfect love. They are unable to 
point to a particular day or hour, when the work 
was wrought ; yet they have all the evidences that 
they are sanctified. Others commence seeking, and, 
after a struggle, all at once receive wonderful light, 
peace, and joy. In these cases, a great change 



86 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

was instantaneously wrought ; and they are able to 
point to a particular day and hour, when the change 
was wrought.- In each case, the seeker attained 
the same blessing ; but with some it was an instanta- 
neous, with others a more gradual work. 

Question. — " Are sanctified believers ever 
tempted? " 

Answer. — They are : none are exempt from 
temptation in this life. We should never conclude 
that we are not sanctified because we are tempted. 
Was not Christ tempted ? Did he not " suffer, be- 
ing tempted?" Is the servant above his Lord? 
Certainly not. The fact is, sanctified believers 
are often more powerfully tempted and assailed by 
Satan than other Christians are. The difference 
between them and merely justified believers, so far 
as temptations are concerned, is this, — in one who 
is not sanctified, there is more or less disposition to 
cherish the temptation, because of the remains of 
carnality in the heart ; butin the sanctified believer, 
whose heart is cleansed, in whom the propensities to 
sin are destroyed, the disposition is not to cherish, 
but to resist, the temptation. 

Question. — " Is there a possibility of losing 
the blessing of scmctification? " 

Answer. — There is. Sanctification does not 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 87 

destroy your moral agency : you are still free to 
act as you cboose ; and, although you are sanctified, 
you still need to watch and pray, lest you fall into 
temptation. If angels in heaven fell; if Lucifer, 
son of the morning, ceased to love, and the bright- 
ness of his face, and the glory of his soul, fled from 
him, and were seen no more ; if Adam and Eve, 
progenitors of our race, fell from their high position, 
and were banished from the garden of Eden, — we 
need not hope to arrive at any state of grace in this 
life from which there is not a possibility of falling. 

Question. — " If we lose the blessing of sane- 
tif cation, can we regain it ? 

Answer. — Yes ; providing you have not fallen 
so far as to have lost the grace of enlightenment. 

We are aware that many suppose Paul teaches 
us, in his epistle to the Hebrews, that if we attain to 
this grace, and then fall from it, that we can never 
regain it. It may be well, in this connection, to 
examine the text referred to, " For it is impossible 
for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted 
of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the 
Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of 
God, and the powers of the world to come, if they 
shall fall away to renew them again unto repen- 
tance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son 



88 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." — 
Heb. vi. 4-6. 

Here are five states of grace brought to view. 
They are of Enlightenment, Conversion, the Evi- 
dence of Conversion, Sanctification, and the Evi- 
dence of Sanctification. We may illustrate the 
text thus : suppose we have a ladder with five 
rounds. When we are " enlightened," we stand 
on the first round. This grace all men receive: 
" The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath 
appeared unto all men, teaching them," &c. By 
improving upon this grace, we soon reach the next 
round, and " taste of the heavenly gift." Now we 
are converted. When we receive the evidence of 
conversion, we are made "partakers of the Holy 
Ghost." Now we stand on the third round. When 
we " taste of the good word of God," we are sancti- 
fied, and stand on the fourth round. When we 
taste of the " powers of the world to come," we 
have the evidence of sanctification. And now we 
are on the fifth round of the ladder ; and, by 
the way, we are sure all who have ever stood 
there will agree in saying, that Paul used exactly 
the right words to express the thing itself. " And 
have^ tasted of the good word of God, and the 
poivers of the world to come" Now, says 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 89 

Paul, "if tbey fall away" (which teaches that 
there is a possibility of falling even from this 
high state of grace, — the evidence of sanctifiea- 
tion), "it is impossible to renew them again 
unto repentance." He does not say, if they fall 
from the fifth to the fourth, that they cannot 
regain it ; nor does he say, if we fall step by step 
until we again stand on the first round, that we 
cannot regain those from which we have fallen ; but 
he says, if those fall away, i.e., if those fall entirely 
away, so as to lose the grace of enlightenment, 
when we lose this grace, the Spirit of God has left 
us, and we are in darkness. No ray of light will 
ever penetrate our gloom, when once the Spirit of 
God has taken its flight : and without the enlight- 
ening, convincing, drawing, and melting influences 
of the Spirit of God, we can never again secure 
these higher states of grace. When the Spirit of 
God has taken its everlasting flight, our damnation 
is as sure as if we were already dead, and shut 
up in the pit of woe. But, on. the other hand, 
while w T e are favored with the influences of the 
Divine Spirit, we can repent, we can believe, we 
can be forgiven, adopted, sanctified. This we un- 
derstand to be clearly taught in the Bible, and 
corroborated by human experience. Hence, we 



90 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

"repeat, if we have lost the sanctifying grace of God, 
we may regain it, if we are not so far fallen as to 
have lost the grace of enlightenment. 

Question. — "Are not some persons sancti- 
fied at or nearly at the same time they are 
converted ? ' ' 

Answer. — Such cases are doubtless very rare ; 
and yet, judging from the testimony of some, we are 
inclined to the opinion that such instances do some- 
times occur ; and although it is true, as our 
standard authors tell us, that regeneration is the 
commencement, and sanctification the completion, of 
the work of inward holiness, it does not necessarily 
follow that a long time must elapse between the time 
of our conversion and our arriving at perfect love. 
We are quite in favor of Mrs. Palmer's " shorter 
way." She gave an account, in the " Guide to 
Holiness," of a man that was converted, sanctified, 
and called to the ministry, and entered upon that 
work, in three days. That was a great work indeed, 
but none too great for God to perform. We no 
doubt err in supposing that we must, of necessity, 
wait a term of months or years before we can enjoy 
perfect love. God is just as able to sanctify at one 
time as at another. Whenever we consecrate and 
believe for it, the work is wrought, whether it be at 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 91 

the time of our conversion, or months or years after- 
wards. Our answer, therefore, to the question 
before us, is in the affirmative. Yet we wish to be 
understood as saying, that there is a distinction be- 
tween the converting and sanctifying grace of God. 
Sanctiiication is a distinct state of grace, to be 
sought for, experienced, and enjoyed : and, in most 
instances, it is not experienced until some time after 
conversion ; but some, no doubt, have experienced 
it at, or nearly at, the time of their conversion. 

Question. — li Does sanctijication take away 
the fear of death? 

Answer. — Certainly, so far as all things in the 
future world are concerned. " Perfect love casteth 
out all fear. "' It takes away all fear of all things 
in the future world. We are the more careful to 
use this language, because it is not as some have 
supposed, that all those who enjoy the sanctifying 
grace of God, no longer shrink back at the thought 
of lying down in the grave. All sanctified believ- 
ers have not overcome their natural dread of disso- 
lution. 

Question. — "Does sanctijication take away 
all desires for life, so that we desire to die rather 
than to live f ' ' 

Answer. — Certainly not. Those who are sancti- 



92 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

fied feel an ardent desire to live just as long as they 
can be of any use in the world ; they have a just 
conception of life's mission and life's responsi- 
bilities ; they consider that their great mission is to 
lead men to Christ, and to alleviate as far as possi- 
ble the sufferings of humanity ; and they are de- 
sirous of glorifying God in their bodies, which are 
his. They can say, "If we live, we live unto the 
Lord; if we die, we die unto the Lord: whether 
we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." 

Question. — " Do sanctified Christians feel at 
all times ready to die ? ' ' 

Answer. — They do not. They are ready so far 
as a preparation for the future is concerned : still 
their affections cling around the dear ones of earth ; 
they feel that the interests of others demand their 
stay on earth ; and hence they feel a desire to live 
if it is the will of God to spare them. 

Some seem to think that we can receive dying 
grace long before it will be needed. This is a great 
mistake. None of us can expect dying grace to 
live by : we shall need that to die by. When dying 
grace is needed, it will be given, provided we im- 
prove upon living grace. Not a few have had con- 
siderable trouble over this question. In the sum- 
mer of 1865, we asked a lady who had for some 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 93 

days been seeking the blessing, how she was getting 
along. She replied that she hardly knew : she 
was quite happy ; but she feared she was not sancti- 
fied yet. "Why do you doubt?" we asked. 
" Because I do not feel that I want to die." — 
"Well, are you dying?" — "No: I am not." 
— " Our advice to you is, not to undertake to cross 
the bridge until you get to it," was our reply. 
She then remarked, that she enjoyed perfect peace, 
and did not fear to die ; her fears were all gone ; 
but she had a family, and for their sakes she would 
like to live ; and she felt that she was now just pre- 
pared to live : but, from what she had heard some 
say, she had supposed, that, if she was sanctified, she 
would prefer to die rather than to live. We tried to 
show her that this was a great error, and that the 
great secret of success in religion is to live now. 
We need give ourselves no concern as to what may 
await us in future life. All we need to concern 
ourselves about is to know that we are just right 
now : if we live right each moment, then all will 
be right in the future. We like to hear people tell 
of their hopes of future bliss, and a glorious im- 
mortality beyond the grave ; but we very much 
dislike to hear those who are in health, and enjoy 
the ordinary prospects of living, talk of choosing 



94 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

to die rather than to live. We believe if they are 
what they should be, they would choose to live just 
as long as they can do any good, and be of any use, 
in the world. We should know that we are pre- 
pared to die ; that to die will be infinite gain : but 
we should consider ourselves "immortal till our 
work is done.^ 

Question. — " Are sanctified believers always 
in an ecstasy of joy? " 

Answer. — They are not. They always have 
peace, but not always joy. The difference be- 
tween them and merely justified believers in regard 
to enjoyment is this: The enjoyment of the indi- 
vidual who is justified merely, is like the ebbing and 
flowing of the tide of the ocean. It is up and 
down, up and down ; or, to change the figure, he is 
like the mariner right under the bluffs, among the 
breakers, where he is liable at any moment to be 
dashed upon the rocks. The sanctified believer is 
away out in mid-ocean, where he is not affected by 
the ebbing and flowing of the tide, and is in no 
danger of striking the rocks. He is now on the 
boundless, shoreless, fathomless ocean of God's love. 
He may be in no rapture of joy ; yet, when he 
looks up to God, and inquires how his case stands, 
be finds that all is peace and calm within. Oh, the 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 95 

solid, abiding peace which the sanctified believer en- 
joys is known only to those who have enjoyed it ! 

Question. — " If I experience sanctifcaticfn, 
must I prof ess it in order to retain it? " 

Answer. — We should say, yes. If you know 
"The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all 
sin," you should testify to that fact to others. If 
you obtain the great blessing, you will feel a desire 
to tell others what great things the Lord hath done 
for you. One thing is certain : if there is an un- 
willingness on your part to profess it, and acknowl- 
edge it before the world, you cannot enjoy it. 
We are to be willing to do any and every duty. 

But you may ask, "Is it duty to profess it ? " We 
reply : " Why ask that question ? Who ever said it 
was duty ? The answer is always, " No one." 
Why, then, do you ask " Is it duty? " The reason, 
dear reader, is because you are impressed by the 
Spirit of God that it is duty. There has been a 
struggle in your own mind over that question : your 
sober convictions have been that it was duty ; but 
there has been a shrinking from it. As time rolls on, 
you are still impressed that it is duty to profess it ; 
therefore, to our mind it is clear that you must pro- 
fess it. 

Before leaving this subject, we will make a re- 



98 SANGTIFICATION PKACTICAL. 

mark or two more relative to making a profession 
of holiness. It should always be done in a proper 
manner. We have sometimes heard people say 
that they had lived months and years without sin, 
and then rebuke others because they do not say 
the same thing. We think it would be better to 
say nothing at all than to profess sancdfication in 
that manner : those who enjoy it will be entirely 
free from any thing that savors of Pharisaical 
righteousness. When we profess it, it must be done 
in meekness and in deep humility. We like to 
hear people testify definitely and clearly to the 
truth that " the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all 
sin." We are always pleased to hear individuals 
say, that for so long a time they have enjoyed that 
" perfect love which casteth out all fear ; " but we 
never like to hear them boast of living without 
sin. 

Still, what is the most important of all is to live 
it before the world and before the church. Let 
your walk and conversation be such as to carry con- 
viction to your associates that you are holy: ; that 
there is a conformity in your heart to the spirit and 
mind of Christ, and a conformity in your life to 
the principles of the gospel. 

Question. — "Suppose a person is converted, 



APPLICATION. 97 

hut has never been sanctified, and suddenly dies, is 
he saved ? ' ' 

Answer. — After we are converted, we must 
be daily " growing in grace, and in the knowledge of 
the truth as it is in Jesus," in order to continue in 
a justified relation to God. This constant growth in 
grace implies, that, by the use of the proper means, 
we are "going on unto perfection." If, under 
these circumstances, we suddenly die, God will take 
the will for the deed, " cut the work short in right- 
eousness," sanctify, and take us to heaven. We 
are using our best endeavors to attain to perfect 
love, and are in a justified relation to God ; and 
hence we should say, that, dying under these circum- 
stances, we should be saved. 



VI. 

APPLICATION. 

In the foregoing chapters, we have endeavored 
to show what sanctification is, how it is to be at- 
tained, what the evidences are that we are sancti- 
fied, and how we are to retain the great blessing. 
It now remains for us to apply the subject to those 
whom we address. 
7 



98 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

That holiness is required, no one who has a 
knowledge cf the holy Scriptures can doubt. " Be 
ye holy ; for I, the Lord thy God, am holy," is an 
imperative command. Besides, Paul assures us, 
that, ' ' without holiness, no man shall see the 
Lord." 

We trust the reader now has a clear understand- 
ing of what sanctification is, and how it is to be at- 
tained and retained. Hence we conclude you are 
now prepared to answer these questions : Are you 
sanctified ? Are you enjoying perfect love ? Are 
you fully conformed to the will and image of God ? 
Can you answer in the affirmative ? If so, we wish 
to say a few words to you. 

A great responsibility rests upon those who pro- 
fess to enjoy the blessing of holiness. The eyes of 
the whole church and the world are turned upon 
them. In the Church are those who are dis- 
posed to lightly treat, and even to ridicule, the doc- 
trine of sanctification, and to persecute those who 
profess to enjoy it. Such will watch you, as with 
an eagle's eye, in order to discover the least defect 
in your words, actions, and temper, that they may 
have whereof to accuse you, and may the more suc- 
cessfully oppose the doctrine. 

How the cause of holiness will suffer, if your 



APPLICATION. 99 

walk and conversation be such as to bring a reproach 
upon the cause ! If you profess sanctification, your 
first responsibility is to see that the cause is never 
evil spoken of because of any inconsistency of 
yours. 

There are others in the Church who are believers 
in the doctrine, but who are led at times to doubt, 
because they have been acquainted with some who 
profess sanctification, but do not live in accordance 
with their profession. Your second responsibility 
is, to be so consistent in your life, as to counteract 
the influences of the inconsistencies of others. 

Again, the great masses in the church are earnest 
inquirers after truth : some assenting to the doctrine 
of holiness, while others are in doubt, but open to 
conviction. They are all looking to those who pro- 
fess sanctification, for such examples, and such rec- 
titude of life, as will show that there is such a thing 
as full salvation from sin ; that perfect love is to be 
enjoyed in this life. Then, if you profess it, your 
third responsibility is, so to exemplify its beauties 
and excellencies, as shall commend it to all your 
brethren and sisters, that they may be led to seek 
the same blessing. 

Again, Christ said to his disciples, "Ye are the 
light of the world; " and commands them, saying, 



100 SANCTIFICATION PKACTICAL. 

" Let your light so shine before men, that they may 
see your good works, and glorify your Father 
which is in heaven." He also said to them, " Ye 
are the salt of the earth." The higher our attain- 
ments in divine things, the brighter should our light 
shine. The greater our advancement in purity, the 
more powerful and, healthful should be our influ- 
ence. As a sanctified Christian, you are to be em- 
phatically the salt of this corrupted earth, the light 
of this benighted world. So far as the world is 
concerned, the responsibilities of sanctified believers 
are two-fold. First, never to give the wicked occa- 
sion to speak evil of the cause of holiness. Secondly, 
so to live, that their influence shall be such as to 
lead souls to Christ. Kind reader, if you profess 
sanctification, you ought not to live year after year, 
and see no souls converted through your instru- 
mentality. Your experimental knowledge of divine 
things, together with the influences of the Holy 
Spirit, which you continually possess, ought to make 
you a power in the earth. Whether you are in the 
ministry or laity, you ought soon to be able to call 
to mind some soul which shall be a star to deck the 
crown of your rejoicing in the day of eternity. One 
eminent divine has given it as his verdict, after 
many years' experience and observation, that, as a 



APPLICATION. 101 

rule, the sanctification of one believer usually re- 
sults in the conversion of at least seven sinners. 
As to the correctness of this estimate, we are not 
fully prepared to judge ; but we have observed 
that the usefulness of the ministry and membership 
of the church is much greater after they experience 
the blessing of holiness ; and we have found that 
when the church in a community has been much in- 
terested in the subject, and sanctifications have been 
frequent, and the grace, has been lived out before the 
world, conversions are witnessed nearly every week 
in the year. If you, dear reader, are sanctified, the 
world should soon be made the better for your liv- 
ing in it. 

Sanctified believers should also regard their re- 
sponsibilities fearfully great, because of their solemn 
vows. How solemnly they promised to forsake 
every idol ; to give up all the nearest and the dear- 
est things which are opposed to holiness. And 
how solemnly they promised henceforth to obey God 
at all times, and in reference to all things ! to obey 
Him at all hazards, in evil as well as good report. 
These vows are all registered in heaven : these we 
shall meet at the Judgment. Oh, how carefully 
ought we to live, after so solemnly vowing to be 
wholly the Lord's ! 



102 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

" Pay thy vows unto the Most High "is an in- 
junction we ought to keep constantly in view, and 
implicitly obey : this we must do, or we shall lose 
the great blessing ; and, oh, how terrible the punish- 
ment that will ensue if we prove false to our vows ! 

But, dear reader, are you compelled to say, No : 
you are not sanctified ? Have you been in the 
church, three, five, ten, or more years, and are still 
destitute of the sanctifying grace of God ? If 
so, what an immense loss you have sustained ! 
Your enjoyments have been very small compared to 
what they might have been. How you have been 
troubled with the trials and difficulties of life ! 
How fiercely the storms have beaten upon you ! 
How your frail bark has been tossed upon the roll- 
ing, foaming billows of life's troubled sea ! And, 
alas, how languid and interrupted has been your 
devotion ! How little you have done for God and 
the world ! and how illy prepared are you to act 
your part in the great work of saving the world, 
because of such a lack, as it regards the work of 
grace in your own heart ! Is it not true, dear 
reader, " that, by the time you ought to be able to 
teach others, you will need yourself to be taught in 
the first principles of the gospel " ? If so, what an 
immense loss the church and the world have sus- 



APPLICATION. 103 

tained, because you have lived so far beneath your 
privilege and duty ! How few, if any, sinners have 
you led to Christ ! and how few are the young be- 
lievers you have led into the enjoyment of perfect 
love. 

Let me say, kind reader, there is a better way to 
live. Yes, thank God, you may enjoy 'perfect, 
constant peace. You may live far above the storms 
and trials of life. Some years ago, we were upon 
a mountain in clear bright, beautiful sunshine, 
while the valley below us was being visited with 
a terrific thunder-storm. This was the first time 
we had ever been where we could look clown upon 
such a storm. It seemed to us terrifically sublime ; 
and while gazing upon the thick, dark clouds below, 
and listening to the thunder which shook the 
mountain upon which we stood, we thought, so it is 
with those who enjoy perfect love ; they live above 
the storms of life, in the sunshine of God's counte- 
nance. They mount up on the wings of Faith 
above the storms, and feel that all is well. The 
winds may blow fiercely ; but the sanctified believer 
is still sailing on a smooth sea ; for there is a differ- 
ence between the heavenly and earthly mariner 
in this regard. When the earthly mariner is 
making from ten to twenty knots per hour, he is neces- 



104 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

sarily on a rough sea, for the wind which carries 
him at that speed raises a heavy sea. Not so with 
the heavenly mariner. The more rapid his prog- 
ress, the faster he sails, the smoother is the sea. 

Again : your devotion may be warm, earnest, and 
uninterrupted. The harvest-field of the world, 
which is already white, is before you ; and it is your 
duty and your privilege to thrust in the sickle, and 
reap a rich harvest of souls. It is your duty and 
privilege to become so well acquainted with the 
things of God and the way of salvation, as to be 
able to lead sinners to the cross, and believers into 
the fulness of perfect love. 

You may regard this world as an exceedingly 
rich mine, from which you may gather many jewels 
to deck your crown in glory. In order to do this, 
you need the sanctifying grace of God. Let us, 
then, exhort you to seek it at once. Do not rest an 
hour in your present religious state, but begin at 
once'to seek with all your heart, resolviug never to 
give over the struggle until you experience the 
power of divine grace to save from all sin. Oh ! 
launch out into the deep waters of God's love. 

Header, are you a minister ? and are you living 
in an unsanctified state ? Is it true that you still 
know nothing of sanctification by experience ? Is 



APPLICATION. 105 

it true that you, to whom your people look for in- 
struction, need yourself to be taught in the way of 
holiness ? If so, let me ask you, How do you ex- 
pect to make full proof of your ministry, if you 
are but partially saved ? how can you lead your 
flock into the green pastures, and by the side of 
the still waters of full redemption ? 

We learned an important lesson on this subject 
in the spring of 1855. A brother of an adjoining 
conference came to assist us a few days in a pro- 
tracted meeting. In his first sermon, he urged all 
believers, young and old, to seek the blessing of 
sanctification immediately. The church was already 
interested in this subject ; and some were enjoy- 
ing the blessing. In every prayer-meeting, and 
in every public service, he had much to say on 
the subject, and tried to instruct seekers how to 
lay hold of the rich grace. (As this was the 
twelfth week of the meeting, we had but little 
else to do.) He became deaply interested in the 
case of a lady who had been for many years in the 
church, and at this time was earnestly seeking puri- 
ty of heart. She left an afternoon prayer-meeting, 
saying that she should soon die if she did not receive 
the blessing. We were accompanying this brother 
to church in the evening, and, meeting the lady on 



106 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

the church-steps, he said to her, "Now, sister, go 
in here, resolved never to leave until you receive 
the blessing of perfect love." 

The evening meeting closed ; but the lady left as 
she came. The brother spent the night with the 
frmily, and, after family worship, the lady said to 
him, " Brother, I wish you to tell me what the ex- 
ercises of your mind were when you sought the 
blessing of sanctification ! After pausing a few 
moments, he said to her, ' ' Sister, I have never experi- 
enced the blessing," This announcement came 
like the shock of an earthquake to her. " Why," 
said she, "is it possible ? You have been three 
days trying to teach me how to attain the blessing, 
and you know nothing of it yourself ! How dare 
you preach on the subject, and urge others to seek 
it, as long as you are destitute of it; " and, so say- 
ing, she left the room. 

This sent pungent convictions to the heart of the 
preacher. He passed a sleepless night. Coming 
to the writer early the next morning, he said, "I 
am going home." " Why, what is the matter? " 
we asked. He then informed us of what had oc- 
curred the night before; " and," said he, "my 
mission here is ended. I can do no good if I stay. 
I must go home ; and I will never preach another 



APPLICATION. 107 

sermon, or say any thing more on the subject of 
sanctification, until /am sanctified." 

What a lesson to other ministers ! How his con 
fession shook the faith of that sister ! How it 
wounded her heart ! and how much good he 
might have done, had he been able, from his experi- 
mental knowledge of sanctification, to have led the 
inquiring soul into the enjoyment of the blessing ! 

And, reader, if you are a minister, you know 
not how soon you may have an opportunity.to in- 
struct some earnest seeker how to attain to perfect 
holiness. And how can you do it, if you are un- 
holy ? How can you lead the membership of the 
church on to the higher attainments in divine life, 
if you can do nothiug more than to theorize on the 
subject of holiness ? 

In our humble opinion, we have had mere theo- 
rizing enough on the subject. We need something 
practical and experimental. " If the blind lead the 
blind, they will both fall into the ditch." If you 
are not sanctified, will it not be like the blind lead- 
ing the blind for you to attempt to teach others 
the way of holiness? Whom does the mariner 
wish to pilot him into a strange harbor? One 
who, like himself, is an utter stranger, — who knows 
not the channel ? No, indeed. He seeks a pilot 



108 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

who is acquainted with every rock and shoal, and 
hence able safely to guide the ship into the harbor. 
So the seeker who longs to be freed from all sin, 
and filled with love, desires some one to guide him 
who is acquainted with all the little particulars in 
experience, and can successfully lead him into the 
haven of perfect rest. 

But stop ! Perhaps I am addressing a Metho- 
dist minister, who is yet unsanctified. What ? 
a Methodist minister unsanctified ! Sanctification 
is one of the distinctive doctrines of Methodism. 
And you a Methodist, and a Methodist preacher 
unsanctified! What a thought! How often in 
your examinations have you expressed your belief 
in the Methodistic doctrine of sanctitication ? Have 
you been received into fall connection in an annual 
conference? If so, you said to a bishop, in the 
presence of the Conference, that you " expected to 
be made perfect in love." And, what is more, you 
were asked, "Are you groaning after it?" Your 
answer was, "Jam." That was months, perhaps 
years ago ; and you are still unsanctified ! Were 
you honest, when you said you were groaning after 
it ? If years have elapsed since you said it, and 
you are yet destitute of the sanctifying grace of 
God, were you then insincere? or have you for- 



APPLICATION. 109 

gotten your solemn vows ? However it may be with 
others, it is a mystery to us, how Methodist minis- 
ters can live any considerable length of time without 
being sanctified. 

Then, dear reader, if you are a minister and un- 
sanctified, allow us to say, .do not for your own 
soul's sake, for the good of the church and the 
world, live any longer a stranger to the sanctifying 
grace of God. We are sure you will enjoy your- 
self much better, and will be far more useful to the 
church and the world. 

We have a brother's. case now in mind, who, in 
less than a year since he experienced the blessing 
of holiness, has been instrumental in the conversion 
of more souls than in ail his life before. He has 
become such a power on his present charge, that 
many of the unconverted say, they dare not go to 
hear him preach : from the fact that so many hard- 
ened sinners have been converted under his labors, 
they fear, that, if they hear him, they will be obliged 
to yield. And, when this brother sees souls con- 
verted, he is prepared to lead them to "perfection 
in love." 

It is due that I should say this brother was 
evidently an earnest, devoted, gospel minister before 
he experienced the blessing of sanctification ; but 



110 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL, 

how changed since ! Now he is a mighty power in 
the earth ; and this is but one among many of the 
same class which we might mention. - 

Oh ! let -us, then, as ministers, secure and con- 
stantly enjoy the sanctifying grace of God. If we 
do, we shall be ready at any time to lead sinners to 
Christ, and to conduct believers into the rest of 
perfect love. 

To those who have once enjoyed sanctification, we 
wish to say, You know the value of this blessing ; 
you realize that your loss is exceedingly great ; you 
also know that it is your privilege to again enjoy 
the blessing. 

Oh ! then, come back, and enjoy again what you 
have lost. Come back, and secure again this great 
grace, that your usefulness may be greatly increased. 
You know the way ; and hence you are left without 
excuse, if you live any longer in your present unen- 
viable state of mind and heart. 

Do we address an unconverted sinner ? If so, 
let us ask, — 



" What are your hopes beyond the grave ? 
How stands that dark account 1 " 



It is the duty and privilege of all to be sancti- 



APPLICATION. Ill 

fied ; yet you have not received the blessing of 
pardon. " Without holiness, no man shall see the 
the Lord." But you are not saved from the guilt of 
sin even, much less from its pollution. What a great 
work you have before you, if you ever enjoy happi- 
ness in this life, and felicity in eternity ! Be up at 
once, and doing. You are far from God, by wicked 
works ! You have much to repent of, and but little 
time to do it in ! You are in the bondage , dark- 
ness, and guilt of sin. If you reach heaven, you 
must be cleansed from all unrighteousness, and filled 
with the fulness of God. Then act ; act now ; act 
, in earnest ; act in the strength and fear of God. 
Remember, if you do not soon repent, and secure 
salvation through Christ, you must take up with the 
lamentation, " The harvest is past, the summer is 
ended, and we are not saved." 

Kind reader, we must now part. We are thank- 
ful for the privilege of addressing you on the im- 
portant subject of sanctification as a state of grace. 
to be sought, experienced, lived, enjoyed. 'We 
have endeavored so to present and illustrate the 
subject, that you may understand it in all its parts. 
How well we have succeeded, others must judge. 
We will now take our leave of you, by offering in 
your behalf this prayer : " And the very God of 



112 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God, your 
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved 
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." " Faithful is he that calleth you, who 
also will doit" " The grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ be with you. Amen." 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



THE ACT OF FAITH BY WHICH THE BLESSING OF 
HOLINESS IS OBTAINED AND EETAINED. 

BY MRS, PALMER. 

During the day, a temptation to hastiness was 
continually pressing upon me ; and, as the Tempter 
had an object to act upon, the suggestion was, that 
I had more or less yielded to its influence. On 
examination, I could not bring the conviction that 
I had offended, and consequently did not feel con- 
demnation ; yet I was most deeply humbled under 
a sense of my unworthiness. While confessing my 
want of higher degrees of holiness, and lamenting 
this before the Lord, I was led to question how it 
was that I had been enabled to hold fast the begin- 
ning of ray confidence, and continually witness that 
the blood of Jesus cleanseth. 

I felt that I had not deceived myself, and could 
appeal to the Searcher of hearts that it was not 
merely a blessing in name that I had gloried in, 
but an actual realization of Christ's saving and 
cleansing power. ■ ' Yes, ' ' thought I, ' ' in verity I do 

115 



116 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

know that the blood of Jesus cleanseth, cleanseth 
now ! " With feelings which even the recollections 
of that hour reproduce, causing tears of grateful 
joy, I could say with Paul, " To rue, who am less 
than the least of all saints, is this grace given." 
Yet for reasons almost undehnable, but which, 
perhaps, cannot be more fully expressed than by 
saying, the appearance (in the eyes of some) of 
assuming, by professing this blessing* a higher state 
of experience than many others, whose piety I so 
much venerate, and especially some of Christ's 
beloved ambassadors, whom in love I highly esteem 
for their works' sake, I felt a shrinking tenderness 
of spirit relative to the testimony I had given before 
the world on this point. And yet I realized that 
the vows of God were upon me, and felt " woe is 
me " if I do not profess this blessing, and urge its 
attainableness on others. 

And must I continue to urge its reasonableness, 
even though it may assume the appearance of taking 
higher ground in the Christian walk ? I felt that I 
could weep, and even now do weep, at the thought. 
But the plain, direct path cast up for the ransomed 
of the Lord to walk in, still presented its track, light- 
ed up by the rays of divine truth as luminously as 
ever. The way was not to be mistaken. I saw 



ACT OF FAITH. 117 

what would be the result of a wilful turning, either 
to the right hand or to the left. It was a blessed 
thought that I had given ray influence into the 
hands of the Lord, and could unhesitatingly leave 
it there, and know that duty was mine, and events 
the Lord's. I also most deeply felt that it was 
not because I was more worthy than others, that I 
had been enabled, for years past, to bear testimony 
to the possibility of living in the enjoyment of the 
witness that the blood of Jesus cleanse th from all 
unrighteousness. 

I would not assume the ground that I have not 
trespassed in thought, word, or deed, since that 
time. But in this, through grace, I will glory : I 
have not, since the memorable hour that witnessed 
the entire consecration of all my powers, taken 
myself from off the altar, but have ceaselessly en- 
deavored to present a living sacrifice of body, soul, 
and spirit." Since that period, I have not felt as if 
any of these redeemed powers were for one moment 
at my disposal. When duty has been presented, 
however much nature may have shrunk from the 
requisition, I have been enabled to act upon the 
principle that I have given myself irrevocably to 
God. Though life might be the forfeiture, I have 
estimated the favor of my Grod better than life. 



118 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

Neither have I, since that period, wilfully trans- 
gressed. 

Yet I do not take this as the ground of ray con- 
fidence ; but this state of soul, in conjunction with 
an act of faith, which, as a key, opens the door, and 
brings the soul into the actual possession of full and 
complete redemption, is that which I have been 
enabled to render continually available, and by 
this I have been permitted to enter into that state 
of light and liberty which is spoken of, 1 John, i. 7. 

But what is this act of faith which brings the 
soul into the enjoyment of full salvation ? By the 
help of the Lord, I will state it, as also the way by 
which I continue its exercise. I saw that God had 
erected an altar, whereunto I was commanded to 
come with faith, nothing doubting ; and, still fur- 
ther, that he did not require that I should believe, 
without a thorough foundation for my faith. Per- 
haps I cannot better explain than by adverting to 
what my expectations would be, if a will, which I 
knew to be legally executed, were placed in my 
hands, and I authorized, from undoubted authority, 
to believe myself the rightful heir of an inheritance. 
Would I hesitate in availing myself of its provisions, 
and think it mysterious that I was to come into 
possession by merely believing the validity of the 



ACT OF FAITH.. 119 

document? And yet the knowledge of the fact, 
without the act of taking possession, would leave it 
just as unavailable for my present necessities as 
though there were no such inheritance for me. 

Thus I saw that God had declared it his will, 
even my sanctification ; and that he had also ren- 
dered that will very explicit by the command, 
" Come out from among them, and be ye separate : 
touch not the unclean thing," — conjoined with the 
declaration, "I will receive you." In view of this 
declaration of my heavenly Father, had I any 
reason to doubt that it was his will, even my sanc- 
tification? What, then, remained for me, but, 
through the strength of grace, to " come out, and be 
separate" ? With this requisition, I was enabled 
to comply. 

Would it not have been strangely inconsistent, 
after having come to this point, not to believe that 
God would accept? And did it require any ex- 
traordinary effort of faith to believe that I was 
indeed one of his covenant people ? It was thus, 
therefore, in the simplicity of my heart I was ready 
to exclaim, Why ! it is hardly of faith, but rather 
of knowledge ; it is so easy. It is all here. I 
have given myself wholly to God. He has accept- 
ed the offering, and sealed me irrevocably his. 



120 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

And would it not be strange, and in effect doing 
great dishonor to the faithful Jehovah, by an inti- 
mation of inconsistency, if, when he had required 
the entire surrender, and enabled me to comply, I 
were not to believe he would be true to his own 
part of the engagement ? 

But to get at the more definite answer that pre- 
sented itself in reply to the inquiry, How I, so 
unworthy, was permitted to be clear in the enjoy- 
ment of this blessing, while there were so many, 
whose piety I held in such high esteem, who were 
not ? The only explanation I could give was this : 
I have faith in God, and believe fully in the validity 
and feasibility of the plan devised by infinite Wis- 
dom, by which the polluted may be cleansed. The 
plan, in perfect consistency with the nature of its 
Author, is unalterable. The devotion that might 
induce its possessor to pass through the flames, or 
to weep tears of blood, cannot produce an altera- 
tion or the least swerving from the principles laid 
down. By the right of purchase, God demands 
and beseeches that we present our bodies a living 
sacrifice. We present the offering, and are cleansed. 
We continue to present it, and continue to be 
cleansed. The Lamb slain from the foundation of 
the world, with garments newly dipped in blood, is 



ACT OF FAITH. 121 

continually present before the throne ; and it is but 
to know that we lay all upon the altar, and believe 
in the infinitely meritorious efficacy of his blood, 
in order to realize, with all the blood-washed com- 
pany, that we 

" Every moment have 
The merit of his death." 

It is then, and only then, that we can fully 
mingle in song with the spirits of the just made 
perfect around the throne. Who does not feel the 
im potency of human language, when the full soul 
endeavors to bring out in words the transcendent 
blessedness of conscious purity; when the spirit 
exultingly joins with the redeemed in the song, 
" Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our 
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and 
priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory 
and dominion for ever and ever, Amen ! " 

Thank God ! there are those who are appropriat- 
ing this language from a blessed knowledge of its 
glorious import. But, alas ! there are those also, 
who, by the will of their heavenly Father, have an 
equal claim to the covenant of grace ; those who 
have expressed joyous confidence in the declaration, 
" God is no respecter of persons;" yea, those, 
^ven, whose energy of spirit in the cause of their 



122 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

God would lead them to pass through fire and 
water 

" Into that wealthy place ; " 

who do not feel that they have yet been brought 
to possess 

" This land of rest from inbred sin, 
This land of perfect holiness." 

Oh ! why is it thus ? Would that my heart 
were as a mirror, to reflect in living characters the 
answer that its deep emotions dictate to the inquiry ! 
May the spirit of holiness communicate the answer 
to every sincere, inquiring Christian, while I at- 
tempt a reply ! 

There are certain unalterable requisitions laid 
down by the immutable Jehovah. With God 
there is " no variableness, neither shadow of turn- 
ing." His requirements cannot be varied or set 
aside, however sincere or devoted the inquirer. 
These individuals have, doubtless, again and again 
brought their all to the altar ; but, in so doing, they 
have not firmly believed that God would be true, 
and, at the moment they presented, accept the 
offering at their hands. 

They well know it to be the sacrifice that he re- 
quires (Horn. xii. 1 : " I beseech you therefore, 



ACT OF FAITH. 123 

brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present 
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
God, which is your reasonable service "), and that 
they could not even have brought the offering 
without his assistance (John xv. 5 : " For without 
me ye can do nothing "). But they hesitate to be- 
lieve, because they do not feel that he has accepted 
before they have dared to venture upon the veraci- 
ty of his word. He has required the sacrifice, and 
has positively affirmed that he will accept. 2 Cor. 
vi. 17 : " Wherefore, come out from among them, 
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not 
the unclean thing, and / will receive you." He 
has given the ability to bring it to the foot of the, 
cross ; and yet they will not believe that he does 
receive, merely because some state of feeling 
which has been pictured to the mind does not 
immediately follow. 

The experience of many might be portrayed by 
what would have been the conduct of Abraham, if, 
after having brought the offering required by God, 
instead of remaining by the altar, driving away the 
fowls from polluting the sacrifice, he had reasoned 
thus : ' ' The fire of heaven does not descend as 
I anticipated ; and though I well know that God 
has required that I should lay this sacrifice upon 



124 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

the altar, yet why does he not consume it ? why 
is my faith thus tried ? and why am I constrained 
thus long to wait, preserving this hallowed offering 
from the touch of pollution ? and who can deter- 
mine how long I may be required to linger in this 
disheartening suspense? Already the sun begins 
to retire ; a horror of darkness comes over me : 
surely, there must have been some mistaken views 
in my perceptions of the manner of this require- 
ment." 

Not so with him, who, in all succeeding genera- 
tions, has been termed the " father of the faithful." 
No : his enlightened perceptions of the immutable 
■ nature of Him who had promised forbade views so 
dishonoring to God. . We shrink from the supposi- 
tion of what would have been the inevitable conse- 
quence, had he practised, as many Christians do, 
under this dispensation of light. And yet we hear 
them speak of their unbelief with a seeming 
complacency, much as though it were an unavoida- 
ble evil. 

Oh that all who are seeking this blessing were 
fully aware of the sinful inconsistency of this un- 
belief ! If Abraham had beeu guilty of this one 
supposed act of distrustfulness, would he have 
been placed so prominently before us as the father 



ACT OF FAITH. 125 

of the faithful? And yet the Christian, with a 
clear revelation of the will of God continually 
open before him, is, day after day, practising upon 
the same principles of unbelief. The younger 
Christian looks to the example of those older in 
profession ; the member, to the class-leader ; and 
the class-leader, to one whose faith he has been 
divinely admonished to follow : and each deems 
himself in a manner excusable from the example 
of the others. The mention of this reminds me of 
a dilemma of a devoted individual not long since. 
She was but a lamb of the fold, and young in the 
experience of the blessing of holiness. Returning 
from a meeting one evening, where her beloved 
pastor, in the recital of his experience, had said 
that he did not enjoy the witness of holiness, she 
remarked in distressing perplexity, " Can it be 
that I enjoy this blessing when Mr. — : — does 
not ? " It was a well-circumstanced temptation ; and 
the Enemy made it the means of nearly robbing her 
of her confidence, though grace eventually tri- 
umphed. 

But is it of small account to be destitute of that 
faith whereby we may be enabled, momentarily, to 
realize the entire consecration and purification of 
body, soul, and spirit ? Is it a small thing to 



126 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

keep back any part of that price which so sacredly 
belongs to God ? And just as truly it may be kept 
back by the fearfulness of unbelief as from an 
unwillingness to comply with any other require- 
ment. Upon such as do not esteem it a subject 
of momentous interest may the Holy Spirit impress 
the force of that solemn truth, " Without holiness, 
no man shall see the Lord " ! But to such as are 
waiting at the foot of the cross, feeling that the 
excellency of the knowledge of this grace is better 
than life, I would say, you will find it in this exer- 
cise. 

Bring the offering of all your redeemed powers, 
not only to the altar, but, through Almighty Grace, 
lay the sacrifice upon the altar. Do not delay 
because nature shrinks from making the surrender 
now. Now is God's time. 2 Cor. vi. 2: "Be- 
hold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the 
day of salvation.'' The acceptance of the gift does 
not depend upon the worthiness of the offerer, or 
the greatness of the gift, but upon the sanctity of 
the altar. Matt, xxiii. 19 : " For whether is great- 
er, the gift, or the altar which sanctifieth the gift ? " 
It is by virtue of the altar upon which the offering 
is laid that the gift is sanctified. Exod. xxix. 37 : 
1 ' And it shall be an altar most holy ; whatsoever 



ACT OF FAITH. 127 

toucheth the altar shall be holy." Christ is the 
Christian's altar. Present body, soul, and spirit 
through his merits. Let the sacrifice be a living 
one. Rom. xii. 1. Remember it is not left op- 
tional with yourself whether you will believe. 
" This is the command of God, that ye believe." 
Believe steadfastly that the blood of Jesus cleans- 
eth. 

Not that it can or that it will, but that it 
cleanseth now. Covenant with God that you will, 
believe this, his revealed truth, whether your feel- 
ings warrant the belief, or not. The just shall live 
by faith. Be willing to live by the moment. You 
cannot breathe to-day for the morrow, neither can 
you believe now for any future period. Bear in 
mind that Christ is a Saviour, and the salvation 
which you receive must be in the present tense, 
and, of course, must be received momentarily from 
above. Ask the Lord to write upon your heart 
the deep spiritual meaning of the expression, " a 
living sacrifice." The blood of Jesus cleanseth; 
for though you may live days, months, and years 
in the possession of this faith, you will find no 
other way than that of living by the moment ; and 
though you were the veriest sinner that ever ex- 
isted, or were the accumulated guilt of the whole 



128 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

world laid upon your head, such is the all-suffi- 
ciency of the atonement, that it is but to place 
yourself upon this altar that sanetifieth the gift, and 
you must be cleansed. The crimson stream, un- 
bounded in its efficacy, is ever flowing. 

Reject the simple way of faith, and the most 
violent efforts of body or mind, rivers of tears, or 
the devotion of a martyr, will not bring you to the 
point. " One act of faith will do more for you 
than twenty years hard toiling without it." You 
cannot receive the full efficacy of the atonement 
apart from this faith, neither can you recommend 
it so successfully to others ; and the debt of gratitude 
you owe to the purchaser demands that you be a 
witness of his power to save unto the uttermost. 
If you live short of full salvation, you imagine, 
perhaps, that, at the last moment of life, you 
can cast yourself upon the infinite merit of the 
atonement, and be saved ; but, oh ! what a risk do 
you run ! and what an infinite loser will you be, if 
you leave the reception of this grace till the hour 
of death ! 

It. is this implicit trusting in God, with a resolute 
determination not to proportion faith to feeling^ 
believing, if he permit your faith to be tried by a 
seeming delay, it is only that you may be account- 



ACT OF FAITH. 129 

ed worthy of being a more victorious example of 
its power, which will produce a fixedness of pur- 
pose and an established state of experience beyond 
expression glorious. Look well to the terms. Ho- 
liness and sanetification most expressly signify the 
state intended. You cannot consistently expect it 
until you make up your mind to live in the continu- 
ous act of unreserved consecration. Consequently 
you cannot believe that there is an entire accept- 
ance on the part of God until you come to this 
point, even though you were as desirous, and 
should shed as many tears, by way of imploring 
the acceptance of your sacrifice, as did the ancient 
Jews, who covered the Lord's altar with tears, 
until he became weary, and regarded not the offer- 
ing any more. (See Mai. ii. 13.) It is unrea- 
sonable not to live in the entire and continuous 
surrender of soul, body, and spirit to God. All 
are already his by the right of redemption. If 
you withhold aught, you keep back part of the 
price. It is, therefore, unreasonable not to be 
holy. Oh, then, enter at once into the bonds of a 
covenant never to be broken, to be wholly the 
Lord's ! Count the cost fully, and lay the offering 
upon the altar. While you present it* the blood 
of Jesus cleanse th. In the strength of omnipotence 



130 SANCTOTCATION PEACTICAX. 

venture now, and you will find what you had 
thought to be the mystery of faith simplified. 



A PIONEER FAITH: WHOSE FAITH FOLLOW. 

Ministers are called to be pioneers in faith. 
If the flock is divinely admonished to follow the 
faith of those who are over them in the Lord, how 
important that the pastor should himself be in the 
constant exercise of a faith, which, if followed by 
his flock, would lead them to the green pastures 
and beside the still waters of holiness ! 

. Holiness, without which no man shall see the 
Lord. This is the one grand ultimatum of all Chris- 
tian ministrations. A holy minister now in heaven 
was arraigned before an ecclesiastical tribunal for 
teaching the doctrine of present salvation from all 
sin. It being contrary to the tenets of the denomi- 
nation to which he belonged, he was reproved, but 
told that he should not be excommunicated if he 
would promise to do so no more. He promised that 
he would only strive by divine aid to be answerable 
to the scriptural duty binding on every Christian 
minister j and then, with remarkable unction, repeated 



A PIONEER FAITH. 131 

tlie passage, "Whom we preach, warning every 
man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that 
we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." 
And for this he was deposed from the ministry by 
an assembly of Christian (?) ministers. Thus was 
the rich blessing awarded him of the one who was 
separated from his brethren. 

The defence of this minister before the synod 
has since been very widely circulated in this country 
in pamphlet form ; and in England was long since 
embodied in a tract entitled * ' The Beauty of Holi- 
ness." Thus, though dead, he is yet speaking to 
thousands in both hemispheres. In view of the 
great day, when the " books will be opened and the 
judgment set," it will be found that the divine 
blessing, which he brought upon himself by con- 
senting to .be separated from his brethren for the 
cause of holiness, has been showered out, through 
him, in blessings on thousands, and thus greatly 
added to the stars in the crown awaiting him. 

Being dead, with righteous Abel he yet speaketh, 
and, with the worthies of other days, will, we ima- 
gine, continue to speak to the end of time by his 
holy heroism and faith. Believing that his was a 
faith that might safely be followed, inasmuch as by 
it he had been led into the inner sanctuary of the 



132 SAjSCTIFICATION practical. 

Divine Presence, I asked that he would give me some 
of the particulars of his experience. 

To my surprise, he informed me that he had been 
nine long years investigating the subject, and during 
a large portion of that time, believing the doctrine 
to be of God, had, with some earnestness, sought to 
be made a partaker of the grace. 

" In view of your sincerity and earnestness, how 
do you account for the fact that you should so long 
have sought without receiving the blessing ? " I 
asked. 

"It is the easiest thing in the world to account 
for," was his instant reply. 

With marked emphasis, he then repeated our 
Lord's words, " How can ye believe who receive 
honor one of another, and not that honor that Com- 
eth from God only ? " k ' Now," said he, "I was 
in honor among my brethren in the ministry ; but I 
well knew, that if I should come out, and confess 
my belief in the doctrine of holiness, I should be 
regarded as heretical and fanatical. It was not until 
I was willing to be of no reputation for Him who 
made himself of no reputation for me ; resolved to 
do the will of God, though my name might be cast 
out as evil, — that I was enabled experimentally to 
know of the doctrine. Then I found it perfectly 
easy to believe." 



A PIONEER FAITH. 133 

I 

It was thus that this beloved minister was brought 
to the exercise of a pioneer faith which has since 
been followed by many. 

We need not say that this faith costs something. 
Already we see what it cost the brother whose case 
we have referred to. Many are unwilling to pay 
the price. We could form a volume of cases of 
this sort which have come under our own observa- 
tion. One such we will briefly record. 

A reputable minister, with whom we were not 
personally acquainted, called on us, and expressed 
his earnest appreciation of the doctrine of Christian 
holiness, and his longing desire to enter by faith 
into the enjoyment of the promised blessing. 

So sincere and earnest did he seem to be, that 
we wondered the way of faith should appear so 
difficult. He called repeatedly, for the sole purpose 
of conversation and prayer on the subject ; but to 
him the way of faith seemed involved in deep 
mystery. 

On one occasion, we asked this minister to attend 
a meeting on the subject, where he might meet 
many of the disciples of Jesus who had obtained 
the grace. 

He came. The scene, the circumstances, were 
new and unexpected. Here he met ministers of 



134 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

the gospel of various sects, full of faith and power, 
and strong in the exercise of that faith that sancti 
fies wholly. One of these was once a beloved mem 
ber of the body ecclesiastic to which he belonged, 
but had been cast out because of his avowed belief 
in holiness as a doctrine of the Bible. 

Again he came to us in the seclusion of our home \ 
and the sequel of that visit was explanatory to our 
mind of all his difficulties about faith. " Why," 
he exclaimed, "is it necessary to make use of the 
terms ' holiness,' ' sanctification,' ' perfect 
love,' &c, when they are so objectionable? Why 
not use the terms 'entire consecration,' 'full 
assurance of faith,' as they express much the 
same, and are not so objectionable ? " 

' ' Why objectionable ? " we asked. "Are not these 
God's words, and, as such, expressive beyond all 
others of the state in which all believers should 
live ? Is it not God who hath said ' Be ye holy ; ' 
' Holiness, without which no man shall see the 
Lord ; ' ' This is the will of God, even your 
sanctification ; ' ' The very God of peace 
sanctify you wholly, and I pray God that your 
whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless 
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ \ ' ' Per- 
fect love casteth out fear ' ? " The stone of stum- 



A PIONEER FAITH. 135 

• 

Wing, the rock of offence, with this minister, was the 
terms. And yet these terms, he was well aware, 
were such as Infinite Wisdom had devised, and there- 
fore more properly expressive of the state in which 
every redeemed one should live than any other that 
could be devised. Still, had he used them, his 
name also might have been cast out as evil. There- 
fore he did not, or rather could not, exercise a faith 
which might be followed. And why f On the 
same principle that chief priests and scribes could 
not believe in the days of Christ's incarnation. 
" They could not believe, because they loved the 
praise of men more than the praise of God" 
We cannot forbear repeating in this connection the 
words of the incarnate Deity, " Whoso is ashamed 
of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful 
generation, of him also will the Son of man be 
ashamed when he cometh in the glory of the Father, 
with the holy angels." 

But, oh ! how soon may the minister who is will- 
ing to sacrifice all for this pearl of infinite price be 
enabled to exercise a faith that brings the witness 
of present purity ! 

The late Dr. Bangs related to us in a private 
conversation an experience on the subject of faith, 
which we regret was not given in his excellent Me- 



136 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

moir ; yet, as we believe no one was in fault but 
ourselves, we would atone by giving all possible 
publicity to this precious item of his experience 
now. 

The venerable doctor was conversing on the 
theme of holiness, amid a little group of interested 
listeners, when an intelligent young lady asked, — 

" Doctor, do you enjoy this blessing ? " 

The doctor was somewhat startled, and paused a 
moment before returning an answer. That pause 
was indeed most eventful in its results. He knew he 
had once, years previous, enjoyed the witness of ho- 
liness, but was not now conscious of living in the clear 
light of the blessing. Still he was hardly prepared 
to confess that he had really lost it ; was afraid he 
might not give God the glory due to his name, 
should he say so. 

He lingered but for a moment. Oh ! what an 
eternity of blessedness may, as the result of one 
act of faith, be compassed in one swift- winged mo- 
ment ! Knowing that Christ, "who of God is 
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctiiication, 
and redemption, was eminently near, he did not say 
in his heart, " Who shall ascend into heaven to 
bring Christ down, or who shall descend into the 
deep to bring Christ up? " But just at that solemn, 



A PIONEER FAITH. 137 

eventful moment, as he presented all his redeemed 
powers through the blood of the everlasting cov- 
enant, with the eye of faith fixed on the declara- 
tion, " The blood of Jesus cleanseth" he was pre- 
pared to say, in answer to the question, " Doctor, 
do you enjoy the blessing ? " " through the grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, I believe I no! " The 
effect on himself and all around him seemed electrical. 
He believed with his heart, and confessed with his 
mouth : and though the acts of believing and confess- 
ing were almost simultaneous, and the work of less 
than one minute, the electric spark of holy fire that 
then burst forth enveloped in a halo of glory the 
future of his sojourn on earth, and by his greatly 
increased usefulness will add lustre to his crown to 
all eternity. 

And is there one, reading these lines, who, if now 
asked, " Do you enjoy the gift of conscious purity? " 
might hesitate as did our beloved Dr. Bangs in an- 
swering the question ? Why hesitate for one mo- 
ment longer? You hear the Head of the Church 
saying to you, "Ye that bear the vessels of the 
Lord be holy." You desire above all things to 
glorify God, by exhibiting a faith which your people 
may safely follow, and thereby be ushered into the 
highway of holiness. Are you not now yielding 



138 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

yourself, unconditionally and eternally, to God 
through Christ? If so, then, on the authority of 
God's word, we tell you that an offering presented 
to God through Christ is " holy, acceptable/' 
Faith is to believe it. Believe it not because of any 
state of emotion you may have, but because God 
says it. This is the faith that brings the gift of 
power. Let your heart and lips now say, — 

O love ! thou bottomless abyss, 

My sins are swallowed up in thee; 

Covered is my unrighteousness ; 

Nor spot of guilt remains on me : 

While Jesus' blood, through earth and skies, 

Mercy, free, boundless mercy, cries. 



DID MR. WESLEY PROFESS THE BLESSING OF 

HOLINESS? 

So asked a Christian friend amid the interesting 
surroundings of a cainp-meeting. There happened 

to be Mrs. on that encampment, well known 

from the fact of her general interest, for years 
past, on the precious theme of heart purity; hav- 
ing written much on the subject, and urged the 



MR. WESLEY. 139 

necessity of its present attainment, both publicly, 
and privately, during the meeting. 

The inquirer stood awaiting a reply ; but, instead 
of an answer, another question was asked, ' ' Does 
Mrs. — — profess the blessing of holiness? " 

" Of course she does," was the unhesitating re- 

"And how do you know that she professes the 
blessing ? ' ' said the Christian brother, who had 
now turned questioner. 

" How do I know it? " exclaimed the lady in 
surprise. " I know it because it is so; and who 
does not know it ? " 

"Have you heard her profess the blessing?" 
asked the brother. 

" No : I cannot say that I have ; but still I know 
she does." 

On the same principle, I can, to your question 
first asked, " Did Mr. Wesley profess the blessing 
of holiness ? " with equal confidence answer, Yes ! 

What an inconsistency would it have involved, 
if Mr. Wesley, who was ever urging the attainment 
of the blessing of perfect love on others, and the 
profession of it when enjoyed, had not himself en- 
joyed and professed the blessing ! If it had not 
been an admitted, well-known fact that he professed 



140 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

this blessing, when examining the six hundred 
witnesses of perfect love in London, would not 
those undergoing the examination have been dis- 
posed to say, " Mr. Wesley, why do you take 
pleasure in calling forth an explicit testimony from 
us, while, at the same time, you deem it prudent to 
withhold your testimony ? ' ' 

A dear minister, hailing under the banner of 
Methodism, was asked in our presence, by a friend, 
" If he was a. witness for Christ of this great salva- 
tion." He seemed embarrassed, and answered 
equivocally, " I do not know that Mr. Wesley ever 
professed the blessing." — "And suppose he did 
not," rejoined his friend ; " and then imagine that 
all who have been called the followers of Wesley 
had followed his example in this respect, would God 
ever have recognized us as a people whose specified 
mission is to spread scriptural holiness through 
these lands? Is not the attainment of holiness in 
the present life the distinguishing doctrine of Metho- 
dism ? and, as such, are we not called to be a wit- 
nessing people? " 

But, if Mr. Wesley never spoke of his own expe- 
rience on this- subject in definite terms, it would 
have been passing strange that he should so con- 
stantly urge its attainment as a present duty on 



MK. WESLEY. 141 

others, and tell them, that, when attained, " one 
great means of retaining it is frankly to declare 
what God has given you, and earnestly to exhort all 
believers you meet with to follow after full salvation." 

It was in a social circle, on another occasion, 
when the question was introduced, " Did Mr. Wes~ 
ley ever profess the blessing of holiness? " that the 
late lamented Dr. Bangs asked that a volume con- 
taining Mr. Wesley's Letters might be brought; 
when he cited us to the following letter, written by 
Mr. Wesley, in 1771, to a titled lady. The portion 
of the letter referring to the point in question is to 
our minds clear. We will transcribe it for our 
readers. 

My dear Lady, — Many years ago I saw, that, 
without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. I 
began following after it, and inciting others to do 
the same. Ten years after, God gave me clearer 
views than I had before of the way how to obtain 
this; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And 
immediately I declared to all, " We are saved by 
faith." This I testified in public and private, in 
print ; and God confirmed it by a thousand wit- 
nesses. 

I have continued to declare this for above 
thirty years ; and God hath continued to confirm 



142 SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL. 

the word of Ms grace. But, during this time, well 
nigh all the religious world hath set themselves in 
array against me ; and, among the rest, many of my 
own children, following the example of one of my 

eldest sons, Mr. W . The general cry has 

been, " He is preaching another gospel." I answer, 
' ' Whether it be the same that they preach or not, it 
is the same that I have preached over thirty years. 
This may easily appear from what I have published 
during that whole term of years." . . . 
Your affectionate 

JOH2T WESLEY. 



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We recommend it as one of the best books that 
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Pure in sentiment, correct in theology, and beau- 
tiful in composition. Of all that has been written 
on the precious theme of entire sanctification, it is 
doubtful whether any thing is better calculated to 
rouse pious desire, and guide the soul in its seeking. 
— Ladles' Repository. 

Contains a remarkably clear exposition of the Doc- 
trine of Entire Sanctification, and the scriptural way 
of attaining to the experience of this inestimable 
blessing. — Wesley an Methodist Magazine, England. 

It is a book rich in experience, and breathing a 
spirit full of humility and love. — Primitive Metho- 
dist Magazine, England. 

One of the best books of its class which has been 
issued from the press in a long time. If such books 
were now in vogue, more holiness would be exempli- 
fied by professed Christians. — Wesleyan Association 
Magazine, England. 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER if PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 3 

Faith and its Effects. 36tn American edition. 
It treats of every stage of religious jexperience 
and practice, from the dawn of conviction for sin to 
the stage of hallowed intimacy with God, enjoyed by 
the mature veteran believer. The reader will find 
here the best thoughts, on a thousand points of 
Christian truth, of a mind highly endowed b^ nature, 
constantly impelled by a consuming zeal for the 
salvation of souls, and enlightened and guided by 
long-continued habits of communion with God and 
his Word. Enlivened and illustrated by intermix- 
ture of fact and incident. — North. Christ. Advo. 



The simplicity of faith, and manner of its exercise, 
are so logically presented as to be unmistakable to the 
least discerning mind. — ZiorCs Herald. 

The author shows clearly that it is the will of God 
that believers should be wholly sanctified. In doing 
this, she exposes and corrects the errors into which 
some have fallen, points out the good old way of at- 
taining this state of grace, and supports all she 
advances by direct and incidental appeals to the 
Word of God. — New- York Christian Advocate. 

This work is rich in all the best experiences of the 
Christian life. If the rationale of faith is still to 
seek, its reality and power are put beyond all doubt 
or controversy, and the believer stands immeasur- 
ably in advance of the philosopher. — London Quar- 
terly, England. 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 



Entire Devotion \ or > Present to my Christian 
Friend. 25th Edition. 

A charming present for the holidays. This is a 
new edition, improved and enlarged; but it has no 
new doctrines to teach. A mere announcement of 
the work will be sufficient to lead many to supply 
themselves with it. — Western Christian Advocate. 

Well worthy a place in the Christian library, or 
as a travelling pocket companion. — Christian Re- 
pository. 

If public demand and extensive circulation are an 
evidence of value, much sterling value must be 
accorded to the book. — Christian Advocate. 

The amiable authoress is already known to the 
religious public of this country by several eminently 
pious and useful productions ; and this work is equal 
in merit to the rest of her valuable writings. We 
could wish these works a very extensive circula- 
tion. — Methodist Magazine, England. 

So widely is the beloved author known, that any 
Words of explanation or recommendation would be 
superfluous. — Ladies' Repository. 

In this volume the nature of Holiness is set forth, 
the way of entering into the enjoyment of it plainly 
pointed out, and the advantages to ourselves and 
others described. — Weekly Message. 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 



Incidental Illustrations of the Economy 
of Salvation, its Doctrines and Duties. 

12th American edition. 

It is got up in the neatest style of the art, and is 
ornamented with a likeness of the author beauti- 
fully executed on steel. In an admirable degree, it 
contains the exciting interest of narrative with the 
profit of didactic reading. The articles are gener- 
ally short, and furnish the. richest variety, and all 
are prevaded by the heavenly unctuous spirit whic'a 
characterizes the author. There are one hundred 
and seventy- three topics discussed, illustrated, many 
of them, by the most thrilling incidents. The work 
is general in its character, and treats of religious doc- 
trines and duties in their various phases: it is 
eminently practical as well as experimental. — 
Northern Christian Advocate. 

Many of the "illustrations" are beautifully 
simple, and told in a winning strain of touching 
eloquence. The book cannot fail to do good, for the 
blessing of the Almighty is with it. — National 
Magazine, 

These sketches and incidents are very affecting, 
touching the heart, and moving the holiest affections 
of the soul. Reader, in all your gettings, be sure and 
get this book, not for yourself only, but for your 
household. — Christian Advocate. 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 



Promise of the Father: or, A Uegleeted 
Specialty of the Last Days. Addressed 

to Ministers and People of all Christian 
communities. 

This very timely and interesting work has already- 
passed through several editions; and, like all the 
preceding works, has been re-published in Europe. 
Of the numerous flattering notices of the press, the 
space allowed us will leave room for but few. 
" The idea of the work is a grand one. It is the 
part woman is to take in the salvation of the world ; 
how far she may legitimately exercise her gifts in 
the church, and to what extent she may be a witness 
for Jesus. The author of this work has already con- 
tributed more than any other woman in America to 
vitalize, instruct, encourage, and improve the Chris- 
tian church. All Christian ministers and the laity 
will be sensibly invigorated by reading it." — New- 
York CJiristian Advocate. 

11 The author's idea is about this : that the Head 
of the Church never intended that woman's lips 
should be sealed in the assembly of Christians, and 
their talents buried, but that God requires the 
return of them, with usury. Therefore the church 
that forbids her this incurs fearful responsibility, 
and deprives itself of an effectual instrumentality for 
good. The author refutes what are generally con- 
sidered its scriptural objections, and introduces 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 



numerous illustrations, proving that God has fulfilled 
his promise, that, in the last days, he would pour out 
his spirit upon his sons and daughters. She fortifies 
her position by the opinion of many eminent divines ; 
and he who undertakes to invalidate her arguments 
from a Christian standpoint will find that he has 
undertaken a more than Herculean task. It can 
scarcely fail to produce a vast amount of good." 
— Evangelical Messenger. 

What part has woman in the great work of human 
redemption ? How far is she -to use her gift in the 
Church of God? How far is it her right to pro- 
phesy ? How far may she receive the tongue of fire, 
and use it for the salvation of the world? These 
questions are answered in this volume clearly, fully, 
scripturally, and practically. — New- York Commercial . 
Advertiser. 

Mrs. Palmer has, during the last twenty years, sent 
forth a number of publications on the highest possi- 
ble themes, and taken the highest ground of Chris- 
tian experience. Their broadest diffusion, in Europe 
and America, attests their power. The present vol- 
ume has a title which enigmatically indicates the ob- 
ject of the work. Its purpose is to spread before our 
churches, of all denominations, the arguments in be- 
half of the exercise of female gifts, in the direct 
promotion of the gospel. She claims no unfeminine 
woman's rights. — Metliodist Quarterly Review. 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 



The Useful Disciple : A Narrative of Mrs. 
Mary Gardner. Price, 55 cts. 
The subject of this narrative was emphatically a 
daughter of affliction. Born iu affluent circum- 
stances, she was in a very singular maimer made 
acquainted with experimental religion at an early 
age; and the pictures that follow of her trials, re- 
lapses, her rebellions, her recoveries, her usefulness, 
her faith, her piety, through scenes of affliction, 
bereavement, hardships, and privation, make up one 
of the most singular and interesting books of 
personal experience we have ever read. — Local 
Preacher* 's Magazine, England. 

The Northern Christian Advocate says, — 
Mrs. Palmer's former works have gained for her a 
high reputation, and very deservedly too. The pres- 
ent volume will do good by bringing more fully to 
light the virtues of one who would otherwise have 
remained comparatively unknown. It is a pleasing 
record of unostentatious usefulness. This work has 
been republished in England, and passed through 
several editions. A new American edition is now 
going through the press, and will be ready in a few 
days. 

A. XEW BOOK. 

A Servant of the Church; or, Memoirs of 

Mrs. Julietta Truslow. Price, 50 cts. 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 



four Years in the Old World. Compris- 
ing the travels, incidents, and evangelistic 
labors of Dr. and Mrs. Palmer, in England, 
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. 1 vol., 12mo., 
700 pages. Handsomely bound; bevelled 
boards ; red edges. Price, $3. 

This work, though issued but little over three months 
since, has been so favorably received, that the fifth 
edition of one thousand each is already passing 
through the press. Most flattering testimonials from 
all parts of the land, and from editors of various 
denominations, are on hand. 

The editor of the New -York Christian Advocate, 
in an extended notice, says, "We are prepared to 
accord to it a hearty word of commendation. Dr. 
and Mrs. Palmer visited the transatlantic churches, 
in accordance with the invitation of distinguished 
ministers. They were greeted with a hearty wel- 
come on their arrival, pressed with multiplied and 
increasingly earnest invitations from the churches 
during the entire four years, and, on their return, 
were followed with the grateful benedictions of 
the pastors and congregations with whom they 
labored. Their success was most extraordinary. 
The lists of conversions, as kept by the secretaries of 
the various meetings held by them, show an aggre- 
gate of twenty thousand! Also the numbers of 
professing Christians persuaded to a more complete 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR, 



10 MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 

consecration to a holy and powerfully-baptized life 
are to be reckoned by thousands. A revival record 
more remarkably glorious has seldom, if ever, been 
made. . . . The incidents narrated vary as 
the localities change; and are often so remarkable in 
their character, that the interest of the reader in- 
creases, rather than lessens, during the perusal. The 
tone and spirit of the narrative are eminently Chris- 
tian. There is no carping about the mere externals 
of religious service. There is no effort to write 
down or lower the estimate of the piety of the 
churches visited. The circulation of the volume at 
this time is opportune: it is eminently a book for a 
revival season." 

The Pittsburg Christian Advocate says, " It is a 
narrative of singular interest, arising frequently into 
the sublime and thrilling. The work cannot fail to 
be a help to those seeking to make the utmost conse- 
cration of themselves to God." 

The Canada Christian Guardian says, "A work 
of admirable style and spirit, and of thrilling interest. 
Thousands in Canada will hasten to obtain it. If all 
Christians had the spirit of these pages, the work of 
God would go on like an all-prevailing flood. The • 
interest of the work is sustained throughout by the 
extensive variety of its topics." 

A correspondent in Zion's Herald says, "It is 
certainly a most wonderful book. We are mistaken 
if it does not become a universal favorite with the 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



MRS. PALMER'S WORKS. 11 

reading public. The testimony and triumph over 
intemperance at Poole and Windsor are grand. . . 
" Let it be scattered all over the country." 

The Evangelical Messenger says, " Scarcely too 
much can be said in its praise. To receive proper 
impressions of its real merit, it must be read. No 
dry dissertations on any system of theology are found 
within its lids. . . . While the author gives 
the most graphic accounts of persons, places, scenery, 
relics of ancient times, &c, she presents, also, most 
glowing descriptions of the work of God." 

Kev. Professor Upham, in the Ladles' Repository, 
says, " The motives that led the authors of this 
work to visit their ancestral land were peculiar com- 
pared with the motives which commonly lead men 
to action, and remind one of the journeys of Paul 
and other laborers who went forth in primitive 
times. ... It was not to gratify a natural 
curiosity, but rather to learn the possibilities of the 
Holy Ghost, and to place themselves in harmony 
with any work he might have for them to do. This 
work is the written result of that missionary tour. 
The work merits, and is receiving, an extensive 
circulation." 

Eev. G. W. Woodruff, Christian Advocate, says, 
"The book will be a universal favorite with the 
reading public of -all churches. Its descriptions of 
places and persons are unusually striking and inter- 

PUBL1SHED BY FOSTER & PALME B, JB. 



12 MBS. PALMER'S WORKS. 

esting, while its earnest tone of unaffected piety will 
move every reader." 

Rev. Dr. Wise, Sunday - School Journal, says, 
" The facts recorded in this volume are really mar- 
vellous. We recommend the book as a record of one 
of the most wonderful works of God in human 
history." 

Rev. J. Inskip, Guide to Holiness, tfc, says, "It 
is really a wonderful book. The clearness and ease 
with which the writer proceeds are such as to make 
the reader feel immediately interested as a fellow 
traveller. The Church needs now such a pub- 
lication to stimulate her zeal and strengthen her 
faith. The religious mind of the country is in a 
state to appreciate the marvellous and thrilling facts 
with which' the book abounds. Every minister of 
the gospel would do well to read the work without 
delay. He will see such a fund of incident as he 
never saw before. Every officer of the church 
throughout the land ought to read it; and it should 
be immediately placed in every library." 

Guide to and Beauty of Holiness. A 

beautiful Monthly, 32 pages, devoted to the 
great subject of heart-purity. Edited by Dr. 
and Mrs. Palmer and Rev. E. Foster. $1.25 
per year, in advance. 
The Pittsburg Christian Advocate says, " We 
commend it to all who seek the most thorough devo- 

PUBL1SHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



OTHER PUBLICATIONS. 13 

tion to God and his cause." The Central Christian 
'Advocate says, " It comes full of good things, and 
is ever a welcome visitor. We are strongly in favor 
of full salvation by faith in Jesus, and believe that 
this periodical really promotes holiness." Another 
contemporary says, ''It must be valuable to all 
seeking to occupy the highest walks of Christian life. 
Personal experiences lie spread out upon its pages, 
and must be attended with a fine influence upon all 
who read them." Another, " It contains valuable 
thoughts, calculated to feed earnest Christians. Life 
in its individual experiences is the chief lesson, 
— a book spread out before the reader, fraught 
with its heavenly messages and potent incentives.' 
Souls yearning for the highest Christian develop- 
ment will find both pleasure and profit in perus- 
ing its pages." Another says, " In its specialty, the 
' Guide ' is always entertaining and profitable. It 
is full of original matter, containing much to in- 
struct the mind inquiring after the ' more excellent 
way.' It is worthy of an extensive circulation. It 
does valiant service in the interests of the higher 
spiritual life." 

A minister writes to the publishers, "I have 
just been appointed by conference to this station. 
The church is nearly dead, and, under God, I want 
to infuse life into it. I am in for holiness, and know 
nothing better to promote that cause than the c Guide 
to and Beauty of Holiness.' I intend to try and get a 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



14 OTHER PUBLICATIONS. 

copy into every Methodist family on my charge." 
Another minister says, " The ' Guide to Holiness, v 
&c, is doing a good work for me. Twenty -four copies 
are taken on my charge. Those who read them are 
constantly growing in grace, and panting after 
purity." 

One dear laborer writes from a distant mission 
field, 4i I thank you very much for the monthly 
visits of the 4 Guide to Holiness.' It gives me much 
strength in my labors. I am deprived entirely of 
English preaching, and almost entirely of English 
society; and you may imagine the pleasure your 
magazine gives me." This missionary receives our 
mazagine through the munificence of some unknown 
friend, who pays her yearly subscription in advance. 
The same may be said of scores of others who have 
received the monthly visits of the " Guide to Holi- 
ness " during the past year; one gentleman alone 
having paid for over three hundred copies for the ben- 
efit of those who might not otherwise have received it. 
We hope others, whose means, as our Lord's stewards, 
may allow, will, from year to year, furnish means to 
send the magazine to the many, who, though rich in 
faith, are not of the rich of this world. An " old 
soldier of the cross " writes, " I do think that there 
are many articles in the ' Guide ' of the past year 
that will lead many in the way of holiness on earth, 
and to a glorious immortality in the world to come." 

PUBLISHED BY FOSTER & PALMER, JR. 



7 (K. 



